#27 Changes on LinkedIn | Autopilot Your Business

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:47 — 37.3MB) | Embed

Here we are at podcast #27! Andrew and Heather are here today to catch you up on recent changes on LinkedIn to make sure you stay up to date and have an effective profile.

First up, what have they learned in the last week? Heather is excited because she learnt a new tool called browserstack.com. This tool allows you to input your URL and check out what your website looks like on different browsers and devices. It is amazing for anyone who has a website and wants to check up on what it looks like on different platforms or those who put together websites for clients. Your website may appear differently on different browsers or devices, you want to make sure it looks good and that it is mobile friendly.

Andrew has also learnt a new tool this week. He is currently re-inventing his website … and came across whatwpthemeisthat.com. This means that if you come across a WordPress based website and you love the theme or look of it, you can plug it into whatwpthemeisthat.com and see what theme and what plug-ins they are using.

So onto LinkedIn: one of our most popular podcasts has been number #8 which was all about LinkedIn for business. There have been so many changes since then that we wanted to bring you up to date.

Firstly, the layout has changed a little bit. There tends to be less in the drop-down menus from the top and some functionality has been removed. The search bar has moved to the center of the page and has changed how it works. Where it used to ask you what category to search under (e.g. people etc) it has now groups all of those categories together to give you more results. You can narrow down the field with filters once you have your results. For example, narrowing down by location or proximity to where you live. This is a powerful search engine tool now and should be used more than what people are using it for now. With the premium version, you have even more filters available such as narrowing down to groups or years of experience in a field.

There are currently 225 million active LinkedIn users who spend an average of 17 minutes each per month on LinkedIn. This represents large growth in LinkedIn and there are many opportunities coming to people who use it.

Within your profile, it is no longer a bunch of text. You are now able to use multi-media options and include photos and videos to garner interest. You can move around sections in your profile (except for name and description) so that you have what you feel are the most important sections for people to see near the top. Get creative and include pictures of projects you have completed to showcase your work.

Also new, the connections that you have are now under a tab called networks. When you click on contacts, it puts those near the top who have birthdays etc., it also shows you when you last had contact with people. You can link in your gmail account etc. so that it grabs this information. When you click on a contact’s profile, it will tell you what kind of relationship you have with them. You can set reminders to yourself such as where/how you met them and when you are next contacting them.

Another cool thing in the contact info is that you can edit it privately for you. For example if you have extra notes on the contact such as another email address which you use to contact them, you can add it in there.

In terms of tools that are now gone, the answers section has been taken away. This means you really want to take part in the groups within your area to establish your expertise. Added in is ‘interests and influencers’ which are people who LinkedIn considers to be top in their area and you can go and follow them. Influencers have also been combined into channels so that you can easily see the latest news in a topic area from the ‘movers and shakers’.

Another change is that if you are on the free version, you cannot post a job anymore. You can search and apply for jobs but will need a premium account if you wish to post them. Generally, you will still get a lot out of LinkedIn on the free version – Andrew still uses this and gets great results.

Want to know more about using LinkedIn? Andrew and Heather have a new course, LinkedIn Masterplan. You can find this at LinkedInMasterplan.com. Andrew is updating the videos to ensure that the changes are included.

If you are interested in connecting with us, check out http://AYBSocial.com where you can find us on social media and on our websites.