Networking Online Made Easy (part 3)

25 Ideas for What to Share Online to Build Your Credibility and Community

Regularly sharing status updates or posting on LinkedIn (and even Twitter or Facebook) is another way to gain exposure and have more people look at your profile.

There are several reasons MBA students don’t post more often:

??It takes time

??Not sure what to post

??Not sure how often to post

If you are actively looking for a new job, try posting once a day on LinkedIn. If it’s less urgent to stay in touch with your network, then once a week may be adequate. But most MBAs I see on LinkedIn have no activity at all on their Profile. This is a career killer these days!

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Facebook isn’t your primary focus but can be helpful. Post one out of every four posts should be career related.

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Twitter moves a bit faster, so it is recommended that you share content more frequently than you would on LinkedIn and Facebook. And it’s even acceptable to share the same tweet more than once.

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Posting just one update a day will greatly increase the number of people looking at your LinkedIn profile. These ideas will help you post a variety of content.

LinkedIn Is A Professional Network

Just a quick reminder that LinkedIn users expect to see posts in their feed that are professional (work-related), helpful, educational, useful, and/or informative.

Even though you may be logging into LinkedIn multiple times a day, most users do not. In fact, only 18% of LinkedIn users log in daily (Pew Research 2016). And the average LinkedIn user spends 17 minutes on the site per month (Wordstream).

A Simple Formula

Vary the types of updates you post. Your goal is to mix in updates that address all four of the topics below. By sharing industry news, news about your target companies, and giving shoutouts to your network, you’ve earned the right to do a little self-promotion. Here’s a recipe to keep in mind:

□??? Industry/Occupation News

□??? Company-specific News

□??? Promote people in your network

□??? Promote your work/expertise

Status Updates That Get Attention on LinkedIn

USE MEDIA

1.?Share a Video

You may not feel comfortable on camera, but you can share a video that educates or inspires.

2.?Add Photos

Starting a new job? Did you participate in a group event? Post it and tag people or companies. If there is a hashtag for an event, be sure to use it!

3.?Add Documents

Certificates, work samples, project outlines, or other documents you can ethically share online help show your knowledge.

4.?Share Infographics

Eye candy and data combined into one! Infographics draw attention.

5.?Share Stats

Either create stats from an article or reshare posts with data.

MENTION OTHER PEOPLE

6.?Give LinkedIn Kudos

There are 10 different types of kudos you can give someone. Go to the person’s profile and click on the “more” button and you’ll find the options to select kudos.

7.?Give a Shoutout To A Colleague

Say congratulations or thank someone and be sure to tag the person!

8.?Share A Colleague’s Work

When you see a colleague sharing great content, mentioned in the news or an article they’ve written, reshare their work. And be sure to tag them.

TAP YOUR NETWORK FOR ADVICE

9.?Ask A Question

Dropping knowledge and then asking a question is a great idea for sharing expertise.

10.????Crowd Source

Ask your network for tips, tools or resources and this becomes not only a valuable post for you but also a great resource for others.

BE A THOUGHT LEADER

11.????Share an Interesting Article

Sharing articles relevant to your industry or career helps people know where your interests lie. Don’t just share it- add your logic or reasoning. Tag the person who wrote it and add hashtags.

12.?Share Tips

Simply use your post to share a tip, a simple work-related trick or a hack.

13.????Share Company News

If your employer posts something interesting, reshare it and add your own words up front. You can even tag people. Mentioning people (by tagging) is a great way to get their attention as well as get more views on the update.

If you want to get on a company’s radar, resharing an article about them and tagging them is likely to get you noticed.

14: Share Industry News

Every day there are updates to industries. Change is expected in industries like finance, tech, retail, and professional services. And when you share the news with your network, it helps keep everyone up to date.

15.?Invite People to An Event

If you are attending an event, share the event details as a post and ask others to join you.

16.?Share Your Reading List

If you’re an avid reader, share some of your favorites or ask what other people are reading.

17.?Share Tools or Resources

Top list of tools, courses, etc. You can either create your own, crowdsource a list or share someone else’s list. People like these because they are helpful.

18.?Explain Something in A How-To Video

You’ve probably turned to YouTube many times to help you resolve a problem. Why not provide your own how-to video on a topic you are an expert in? From a simple workaround to more complex tasks, walk people through the steps.

19.?Share Jobs

You never know who may be looking for a new job. So, if you find an interesting job or your company has an opening, share it on LinkedIn.

INSPIRE

20.?Quotes

Famous quotes can inspire or emphasize the emotion of the moment. Spread your message through someone else’s words.

21.?Be Motivational

You can share your own motivational message on camera, with words or in photos.

YOU’VE EARNED THE RIGHT TO SELF-PROMOTE

22.?Self-Promotional Job Search

You only get one of these posts, so make it count. Be specific, talk about the types of roles you are interested in, the value you add and your desired cities.

23.?Celebrate Your Achievement

When you receive an award, certification, degree, promotion or some other milestone, you can and should draw attention to it.

24.?Share a Published Article or Article You’re Quoted In

If you’ve ever been published or quoted, you know how exciting this is. Don’t hold back. Share your work with your network.

25.?Write an Article on LinkedIn

When you have information to share, stories to tell or just want to show what you know, creating a blog post on LinkedIn could be the answer! Be sure to draw attention on LinkedIn by sharing it as a status update.

In sum, there is no shortage of content ideas to boost your online network by showing you are someone they will want to know! And once they get to know you, then your relationship will grow to someone they trust. Be active online to accelerate your career!

On the MBA Mentor Newsletter

The focus of MBA Mentor is to give business professionals guidance and tools to get ahead. Published weekly on LinkedIn, the newsletter will give you advice on professional goals, information on great companies with open positions, industry experience, help to overcome challenges of transition and help in identifying your skill set and communicating your value.

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Roy Young is the CEO of the MBA Hub based in Beverly Hills, CA. The mission of the Hub is to provide career acceleration services to MBAs that help them land high-paying jobs at companies they’re proud to work for. Through online programs and personalized coaching, MBAs learn how to get in the door of great companies, clarify and communicate their value and ace interviews for a new job or promotion.

Beyond B-School, another division, provides career services support for more than 50 B-schools so they can help their students compete in the job market after they graduate.

If you think we can help you, call Roy at 310-601-4755. Or you can email him at [email protected].

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