Introduction 1: What is LinkedIn?

Setting Up Your LinkedIn Profile 2: Set Up Your Account 3: Understanding LinkedIn Privacy 4: Set Your Privacy 5: Additional Privacy Settings 6: Create Your Profile 7: Deactivate Your Account

Using LinkedIn 8: Adding Information 9: Connecting on LinkedIn 10: Sharing on LinkedIn

Additional Resources - http://homebusiness.about.com/od/socialnetworking/tp/Linkedin-Guide.htm http://linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/ Note: Please view “page 2” for the training.

A guide to:

By Tim Duffy, CTEduOnline.com Introduction: So, you’ve heard the name tossed around by coworkers and friends, “are you on LinkedIn?” But, what is it? In today’s techy, network-centric society, social media sites accumulate like weeds, and staying current can be difficult. We’ve taken the opportunity to break down some of these services to better educate our followers on how to effectively utilize these sites. In this edition we will be exploring LinkedIn. This lesson contains the following topics:

- What is LinkedIn? - Setting up a profile - Using LinkedIn

What is Linkedin? From about.com,“LinkedIn is a directory of professionals and companies. Individuals and companies use LinkedIn for networking, job searching, hiring, company research, and connecting with affiliates, including alumni, industry, and a variety of other business related groups.” If Facebook and Career Builder had a child, LinkedIn would be it. What exactly does that mean? Stay tuned to find out. To start using LinkedIn the first thing you do is create a profile. Your profile contains information such as your location, current job position, education, summary of skills and experience, past work experience, areas of expertise, recommendations by peers, connections with other LinkedIn users, groups you are apart of, and groups or individuals you follow. Once you create a profile and populate it with the necessary information, you will be able to start promoting yourself, making connections, and following relevant groups. (Note: LinkedIn offers both basic (free) and premium (paid) services; for the purposes of this lesson we will be exploring and demonstrating the free option).

Setting up a profile This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of creating your LinkedIn profile. First, using your web browser (Safari, Chrome, FireFox, Internet Explorer, etc) navigate to http://www.linkedin.com. On the navigation bar located at the top of the page click, “Join Today.”

Fill out the “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Email,” and “Password” fields. Read the User Agreement, Privacy, and Cookie Policy documents, and then click “Join Now.”

Enter information for the fields, “I live in,” “ZIP Code,” “I am Currently,” “Job Title,” “Company,” and “Industry,” and then click, “Create my profile.” Note: Fields highlighted in red are required.

Next, you can link your email address to your profile. This step is optional. For the purposes of this lesson we will skip this step. You can always go back after you create your profile to link your email address. If you complete this step, LinkedIn will search your email’s contacts for people who have a LinkedIn account and will send them a “connection invite.” Connections will be discussed later in this lesson.

LinkedIn will send you a verification email. The email contains a link which will verify and activate your account. This process prevents fraudulent accounts from being created. If you did not receive an email, check your “spam” folder and also ensure you entered your email address correctly when signing up for your account.

After clicking the verification link, you will be forwarded to a page confirming the verification. Again, you will be asked to link your email address to your LinkedIn profile. We will be skipping this step. You can always go back and link your email address later.

You will be asked to share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter that you created a LinkedIn account. We will skip this step. Again, all of this can be completed at a later time.

You will be presented with a page where you can choose the Premium (paid) or Basic (free) membership and the differences between them. We are choosing the free membership. Click either “Choose Basic,” or “Skip this step.” Both will result in a free membership.

You will now begin entering information on your profile. You start off by listing when you started working at your current position. After filling in the information click, “Save.”

Next you will begin filling out your past work experience. After you complete the fields, click the “Next” button.

Next you will enter your education history. After entering the information click, “Save.”

Now you can upload a photograph or logo representing yourself. This step is optional. Click “Choose File” to navigate to the file on your computer. You can upload JPG, GIF, or PNG files, with a limit of up to 4MB. After choosing your file, click the “Upload” button.

You can add up to 50 skills. Potential employers will search for a skillset and, based on what you enter, you will appear in the search results. Also, your connections can “endorse” your particular skill sets.

Now you enter details about your work experience. After completing this step click “Save” to continue.

Congratulations! You’ve created your basic profile. You can continue to add more detailed information if you wish. Click “Done” when finished.

Settings To access your profile settings, click the dropdown arrow next to your name, and then click “Settings.” From here you can change your password, add auxiliary email addresses, change your Profile, Email Preferences, Groups/Companies/Applications, and Account settings. You can also access your privacy controls from this screen and edit options, such as turn on/off your activity broadcasts, select who can see your activity feed, select what others see when you’re viewed in their profile, select who can see your connections, change your profile photo and visibility, and show/hide “viewers of this profile also viewed” box. Please take time to explore each of these options.

If you ever wish to deactivate your account, from the “Settings” screen, click “Account,” then “Close your account.”

Using LinkedIn Now that you have created a profile and modified your settings, it is time to add connections, join groups, and share materials. The first thing we will demonstrate is adding connections. This can be completed three ways, by clicking the “Contacts” dropdown menu at the top of the page and selecting “Add Connections,” by searching for an individual or company in the search box at the top right portion of the page, or clicking “Add Connections” at the top right of the screen.

After you find the person you are looking for, click “Connect” next to the person’s name. An automated email will be generated, which you can edit, asking the recipient if they would like to join your professional network on LinkedIn. When your connection accepts the request, they will be added to your network.

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To search, join, or manage groups, click the “Groups” dropdown menu from your profile page. You will receive emails and updates from the groups you join when they publish an update.

You can search for groups, or LinkedIn will recommend groups for you. When you find a group you would like to join, click “Join.” You have now joined the group and will receive updates when they are published.

And that’s it! Now start adding connections and getting your name out there. Follow groups relevant to your industry and share materials with others. When managed correctly, LinkedIn can be an invaluable professional tool.

In this lesson, you learned how to create a profile, add information to your profile, manage your account and privacy settings, add connections, and join groups. If you have any questions please contact socialmedia@cteduonline.com, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please review our other social media courses available and get out there and connect! Stay safe! Tim Duffy tduffy@cteduonline.com