Within the last two weeks LinkedIn has introduced multiple changes to make connecting with other sociable professionals easier. Here are the top three we think you should know about.
Endorsements
You can now endorse your LinkedIn connections for a skill that they have listed on their profile or better yet, you can recommend them to add a skill that they haven’t listed. There are two ways to endorse your connections:
1. By going to the new Skills & Expertise (beta) page from the “More” drop down menu on the LinkedIn home page.
2. By clicking the yellow “Endorse” button in the blue box on the profile page of your connection as you can see in the screenshot below.
LinkedIn will notify you by email if you get endorsed. You can also scroll to the bottom of your profile page to see the people who’ve endorsed your skills.
Follow Professionals
As you might know, if you aren’t a colleague, old classmate, friend, in a group with or done business with someone on LinkedIn you cannot connect with them. Now, LinkedIn has made it possible to follow other professionals. Currently, you can only follow what LinkedIn considers 150 of the most influential leaders. Some of those as you can see in the screen shot below include Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sir Richard Branson.
Once you follow any of these thought leaders, you will be able to like, comment and share their posts. Fortunately, LinkedIn plans to expand their list of influencers within the next few months to individuals who they consider to be industry specific movers and shakers. Want to get on that list? LinkedIn is also offering you the opportunity to submit a request to become an influencer by going to http://partner.linkedin.com/influencer/.
New Company Pages
LinkedIn started testing new company pages a few weeks ago a select few companies. Recently they rolled out the new company pages to more than 2 million companies. The changes on the new company pages are mostly aesthetic. It now includes room for a larger cover image, easily visible content and they are now viewable on mobile devices. You can see what the new company pages look like in the screenshot below.
LINKEDIN COMPANY PAGES
I was invited to attend Connect10, LinkedIn’s annual brand and marketing summit held in NYC this week. In addition to recapping some of the features rolled out to the platform during 2010, they made a major announcement to introduce a new feature on Company Pages – Services. Our company was one of a select few to participate in the pilot program for this and is very excited at the possibilities it offers advertisers.
MoreVisibility’s Company Page (you will need to be logged in to see a robust version) on LinkedIn features this new section (as a result of our participation in the pilot for the program) but it is still being rolled out to all companies – so you may or may not have the feature yet. It appears on your Company page as a third tab, next to Overview and Careers, on your Company Page. Adjacent to this (on the right) is where you will find the options of adding or editing this area of your page. You must have a company email address in order to be able to modify the page for that company.
SERVICE/PRODUCT DETAILS PAGE
On the main Services page, you are able to list out your products or services, in addition to designated some as “featured”. Companies can also segment products or services to specific audiences they select. This is especially helpful for vertical focused solutions you offer.
To provide more information on each service or product, there is an option to create a Details page for each. Here is where you can elaborate with additional text, video and images which all support that specific product or service. You can also request recommendations from client on specific products or services, which will be displayed on this page. This is a great Landing Page to consider, as it offers contact info for your team and individual endorsements by others.
When signed into LinkedIn, please visit our Company Page to see this new feature in action! We would welcome an opportunity to discuss your company’s strategy to leverage this channel, through paid advertising options and this free Company Page. Email me or let’s connect through LinkedIn.