Tips For Using LinkedIn Effectively #7

Using Apps to add interest to your profile.

Each week I look at a lot of profiles and after a while they all start to look a like. They all have a photo, a summary and work experience. All of this information is a lot like reading through a stack of 100 resumes. A little on the dry reading side.

What can we do to add a little bling to our profiles? Thanks to LinkedIn for opening the doors in early 2009 to 3rd party developers, which allows for extended functionality to be added to our profiles.

Lets look at a few of these third party add-on tools and talk about ways that you might use them to add additional interest in who you are.

The first that I like to recommend is the Reading List by Amazon. With this application, you can show your business focus and show that you are looking to improve your knowledge through reading. Or if you are a technology geek, that you have all the latest toys like the Amazon Kindle.

Use the reading list to make a list of recent books that you have read or would like to read. If you have read something, add a comment about what you read. However, you may not want to list the latest Zane Grey novel that you read. While it may have been a good read, it is not promoting your business focus.

Also use this reading list to help you open doors with people. Lets say you are getting ready to meet with someone for the first time. Take a look at their profile and see what they have read. Use that to help get the conversation relaxed and moving.

Another application that I like to add to my profile is the Box.net app. This application allows you to add any file to your profile. This would be great if say you were a creative writer or a graphic artist. You could place samples of your work or your portfolio on your profile.

Box.net allows you to also organize the files by creating sub-folders for the various needs that you may have. You may create a folder for presentations, Writing, PDFs or maybe a version of your resume.

Another handy application is SlideShare. Slide share allows you to take any PowerPoint presentation and add it as a self-running movie in your profile. So if you happen to be in a position where you are doing a lot of PowerPoint work, you might add a sample using this.

Or how about this option, create a 12 to 15 slide presentation about you. Use this as a way to sell yourself and tell people why they should hire you if you are looking for a job.

There are many other applications that you can add to your profile. There is one for Events, Blogging, Polls and Twitter. All of these applications allow you to add additional interest to who you are and best of all take your profile to the next level.

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