3 Ways LinkedIn Has Changed My Life (and How it Can Change Yours Too)

I know, I know, it sounds so cliche, doesn't it?

"LinkedIn has changed my life!"

But in truth, it has. 100%. It's basically created the life I have now.

Don't get too ahead of yourself, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha; there's been a lot of work on my side involved too. So, I suppose I can't give LinkedIn ALL the credit.

What LinkedIn has done, though, is given me the platform to create. The platform to find like-minded people and connect with them. The platform that has allowed people who are hunting for someone like me to find me. The platform that has been the launching pad of my career and business in more ways than one.

If LinkedIn had feet, I would kiss them (but only if they were recently bathed and clear of toe-jam. And if you know what toe-jam is, I already like you).

And if LinkedIn were a real person (I'm thinking LinkedIn is a woman in case you were wondering), I'd give her a big, fat bear hug and awkwardly hold on until she wriggled out of my grasp. Yes, I'm sometimes that person who holds on a bit too long...

Why all the love for LinkedIn, you ask? Oh, I'll tell you. And I'll tell you good. #MyLinkedInStory

1. LinkedIn has introduced me to connect with people WAY smarter than me.

When I decided to dive in to making LinkedIn work for me back in 2011, it somehow lead me to connecting to and then eventually meeting Michael Seaver of Seaver Consulting, an executive career coach in Phoenix, who gave me the idea that I (ME - a young, small-town girl from northern Minnesota) could start a business in Phoenix and be successful. If it weren't for him, I don't know that I would be where I am today.

If it weren't for LinkedIn, I wouldn't have connected, reached out to and met the amazing Jessica Pierce, Founder and Executive Director of Career Connectors, a Phoenix-based non-profit organization I've given of my time to each month since 2013 to help those in career transition. Because of this relationship, I've had the pleasure of forming many more and helping hundreds.

If it weren't for LinkedIn, I wouldn't have met my good friend, John Muscarello of Endless Job Offers, a guy whose blog post I read (about how to be a better networker) and randomly connected to. Over time, I continued to read and share his articles which eventually lead to a conversation about me being featured on his blog to do an interview to teach his readers all about LinkedIn. I mean, how cool is that? If you'd like to have a listen, you can find it here.

If I can do all that, you can too. You just have to reach out and really CONNECT.

2. LinkedIn has given me a place to track and store all of what I call my "Career Awesomesauce" a.k.a. the cool stuff I've done and accomplished.

How else is a girl to keep track of all the things that make her awesome? Seriously, where better to keep all of your career/accomplishment/projects information than where other people can find it and give you credit for it?! Don't get me wrong, journals and notebooks work too, BUUUUT....

"Ain't nobody gonna look through dat and try to hire you!"

Without all of the evidence of my hard work and determination over the past several years, how would I even remember all this stuff? I've got enough on my plate to remember let alone try to come up with five accomplishments from a job I had four years ago. Anyone who hasn't written a resume in five years and hasn't been keeping track of this stuff knows EXACTLY what I'm talkin' about here.

Now, wouldn't it have been a GAJILLION times easier to just have kept track of it via your LinkedIn profile? I think so.

3. It has brought TO me the kindest, most extraordinary and goal-oriented people (and clients) a girl (or guy) could ask for.

I'm not exactly sure how LinkedIn's algorithms work and all that jazz, but however they work, they've been workin' for me! Anyone else who comes up high in search results when others are searching for specific keywords knows what I'm talking about.

I've realized that people search on LinkedIn just as they do on Google. They're looking for specific people with specific expertise in specified areas of interest. Through hacking the LinkedIn system (albeit unknowingly), I now come up pretty high in search results when people are looking for someone like me. And I didn't even have to pay for it (Google)!

When you know the tricks of the LinkedIn trade, it can work pretty darn well for you. If you're the one who comes up in search results when people are on the hunt, they WILL find you. If you're not in the list of results then they won't. Pretty simple.

Luckily, the folks that have been searching for someone like me have found me, and I feel crazy-blessed to have been "the chosen one" by those individuals. Without them, I couldn't do what I love to do - help women create the lives they're after. I'm literally tearing up right now thinking about how lucky I am to have had the chance to work with people so much smarter than myself. I know, I know, I'm a cheeseball. Don't hate me for it, please and thank you.

If I can make that happen, so can you, my friend. If you've got a complete profile filled with keywords, accomplishments, endorsed skills, and several recommendations, the right people will find you. And when they do, your life can be forever changed.

While I could potentially go on and on about what LinkedIn has done for me, I think you've read enough to get the gist.

LinkedIn can do amazing things for you if you work it and work it right, work it often, and work it with a purpose.

Don't let it just sit there all naked and stuff. No one wants to see that.

Cheers to your future LinkedIn success!

This was a lot of #MyLinkedInStory -- what's yours?

~Dayna

Dayna Mathews, Career & Personal Branding Coach for kick-ass women at Dayna Marie Coaching, has helped more than 600 people since 2009 on their path to creating a successful career. Not only does Dayna coach on resumes, interview skills, and job-search strategies, but she also helps people figure out what they really want. She gets down deep to help bring forth your true self so you can better personally brand yourself and stand out among the crowd. Dayna is a die-hard LinkedIn junkie, creating profiles that attract the right attention and training people how to use it most effectively to get what they want. Dayna is a hockey-obsessed, Minnesota native and a life-long Dumb and Dumber fan too.

To schedule a free consultation with Dayna and sign up for her VIP list, you can find her at www.daynamariecoaching.com , as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.