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I subscribe to LI as a premium member, which runs $24.95 per month. This is
entirely tax-deductible, just as office supplies, equipment, travel,
professional dues and periodicals are. This gives me access to the free
webinars and training videos, including "LinkedIn 101" and "Job Seekers:
Tips for Using Your LinkedIn Account to Help You Land Your Next Great
Opportunity <http://learn.linkedin.com/jobseeker/>."
To access these yourself, first navigate to their Help Center, then click
the More link underneath Popular Answers. Now look to the upper-right
corner; there is a heading entitled, "Want tips on using LinkedIn?" There's
the link.
In addition to being more open to making connections (read: networking),
when I'm job hunting I make use of the "Share an update" item on the
newsfeed page. Here I post short items I think may be of interest to the
IT/business community, such as Internet security, identity theft, or
whatever. The idea is to 1) get my name on the newsfeed scroll (kudos to
Craig Cardimon) and 2) convey the impression that I'm knowledgeable, a
"good guy" and keep up with my field of endeavor.
In radio and print advertising (where I began my career) it was known that
it took an average of 13 impressions before a listener/viewer would take
actionâor even recognize your business/product exists. Repetition is the
key to repetitiveness. (I repeat...) On LinkedIn, however, I make every
attempt to 1) not be annoying in my semi-frequent posting and 2) to always
provide something of value. (Posting one of those "cute saying thingies"âor
another LOLcat pictureâisn't going to win one any friends.)
As I've stated earlier in this thread, you also appear on the feed every
time you make a new connection.
A closed social club LinkedIn is not. If I only connected with those folks
I truly know, mine would be a very small network and of limited value for
the nearly $300 I invest in it annually. (If that's all I wanted to do, I
could do it for free via email.) Rather, LI is a huge job fair where you
can display your credentials to their fullest, including collateral
samples.
There are also interesting posts to read via Pulse (or whatever),
interviewing tips and whatnot. Working LI does require a time investment,
however, so I'm less likely to be working it hard (or at all) when I'm
engaged in a contract.
> Chris
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