You know that LinkedIn is no longer optional – it’s the #1 way to be found by recruiters and one of the easiest ways to grow your network and enhance your professional reputation.
However, many busy executives (and which AREN’T busy?) are hesitant to interact on the site. And with good reason. Since there’s so much that can be done on LinkedIn, it’s easy to assume it’ll take up more time than you have. Plus, it doesn’t exactly look great if a member of the C-Suite appears to be spending the majority of their day on social media, even if it is a professional site.
Still, there’s a middle ground. Here are a few ways to make the most of LinkedIn with just a small time investment:
SET IT AND FORGET IT
Sort of. While LinkedIn is always a work in progress, changes are much more minor after you’ve built a solid profile. Once you’ve got keyword-optimized content that positions you the way you want to be perceived, you’ll start getting more profile views from your target audience.
SPEND 5 MINUTES A DAY
Regular activity is important for your visibility, and fairly simple to maintain. By building it into your daily routine (such as going onto LinkedIn each day before you check your email), visiting the site will become second nature. It almost doesn’t matter WHAT you do, as long as you do something. A few suggestions: comment on or like posts, acknowledge birthdays and job changes, or share an update.
REPURPOSE CONTENT
Think about material you already have, and use that as your status update. Have you been mentioned in an industry publication? Quoted in the media? Has your company put out a press release? Avoid reinventing the wheel and get more use out of content you already have.
Even if you’re happily employed, your activity on LinkedIn will pay dividends when and if you decide to begin an active job search. If you are hoping to find a new position soon, enhancing your online visibility is a relatively quick way to begin attracting recruiters and potential employers.
