Category: LinkedIn

by Sally Cox

One of the more obscure features of LinkedIn I have come to love is Pulse, which gives you access to industry professionals and global leaders in a variety of fields. You "follow" them, much like you would on any social media platform. For example, Richard Branson is someone I greatly admire, so he was the first person I followed on Pulse.

To access Pulse, log into your LinkedIn account and choose Interests > Pulse.

Once you start following people on Pulse, it will automatically begin suggesting influential people for you, with an easy "Follow" button to press, if you want to follow them.

In the far right column, Pulse shows thumbnails of people you might want to follow. Click See all to view the entire list.

Pulse suggests industry leaders you might wish to follow, based on your prior choices. Use the + Follow button to add the person to your list of favorites.

I'm active on social media so I use Pulse not only to find good content to share with the LinkedIn community, I also share on Twitter at the same time.

To share an article on LinkedIn Pulse, select the Share icon (shown highlighted in the orange box below).

In the Share dialog box, decide how to share the content. If you want to share with everyone, choose Share with Public. To post to Twitter, select the check box at the right of the dialog box. Add a short note if you want (as long as it's within the 140-character limit for Twitter).

LinkedIn Pulse App

I love the Pulse app for reading articles on the go, but I can also follow and share via the app as well. The interface is clean and easy to navigate.

Above, the Pulse app in my Social Media apps folder. Below, I can swipe horizontally to see all the articles from people I follow.

Sharing articles to social media from the Pulse app is a breeze… just choose the venue you want and press Share.

Overall, Pulse is a useful feature if you like to read and share good content and is especially helpful if you're active on social media.

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by Sally Cox  

There is an art to creating a strong LinkedIn profile. One of the most powerful assets in your LinkedIn profile is the Summary. Most people put minimal thought into it, but honestly, it's a golden opportunity to make yourself shine.

Tips to Creating a Stronger Profile

Be clear on your objective before you begin. What do you want recruiters and prospective employers to gain from reading your summary? How do you want them to feel?

Gather your content. Put everything in place so you can begin to write the summation. List your greatest accomplishments, and a sentence about each one. Try to capture not only what YOU got out of the experience but more importantly, how the company benefited. If the team cut costs by 70% under your management, that needs to be part of the sentence.

List your values and passions. If saving African wildlife is high on your priority list, make sure you notate that in some way. Aside from your professional accomplishments, people like to see snippets of the real you.

List things you can do better than anyone, things that make you stand out. If Project Management is a strength of yours, or you're a competitive swimmer, these traits can both accurately portray your dedication and look good on a profile.

Awards, accolades, achievements–gather them and include both personal and business accomplishments.

List things that make you unique. Find out what they are and include the strongest ones. For example, I worked for "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in the 1980s, as designer. It was long ago, but that one event on my resume or LinkedIn profile is a conversation starter, more than any other. It may not even pertain to my current work, but it's a great way to start a conversation that gets me noticed–and remembered.

Writing Your Summary

Begin with a strong statement, a "bang," if you will. You could ask a question, make a statement, or just list a few of your skills for a dramatic opener. Make it memorable. 

Weave your story, including snippets from the information you gathered in earlier steps. Mix up your content to make it more interesting, so it doesn't read like a list, and use correct grammar and punctuation.

End with a call-to-action, remembering your summary needs to be 2,000 characters or less. Tell your readers where they go to learn more about you, or how they can contact you. (This may not be necessary if you've listed it elsewhere on your profile, but make sure they know how to find you.)