LinkedIn, how I have missed you (and misused you)

I preach a lot of LinkedIn. In my talks, in my webinars, in my coffees.

And yet, I have strayed far away from LinkedIn, and from my own advice.

Sad.

As I grew busier with my conference over the summer, my routine went out the window. And part of that routine is checking in on my LinkedIn friends. Growing a network is pretty easy, but maintaining it takes regular attention.

That ends today. I’m hopping back on the LinkedIn bandwagon.

I want to take care of three things.

First, I want to update my profile. I advise people to update their profiles twice a year, adding new accomplishments and awards, updating summaries and listing volunteer activities. I’d like to update the welcome video as well, but that will take extra time since I have new clips to incorporate.

Second, I will resume reaching out to my network every day. I have done this off and on for 3 years, and it’s time to pick up where I left off. This is one of the most rewarding social media activities for me.

Third, I need to branch out into LinkedIn Groups. I haven’t paid much attention to the ones I’m in, and I haven’t explored others that might be a better fit. In addition, I may have post-conference discussions using a LinkedIn Group. This is the right time to listen and participate.

Nothing too drastic, just resuming my time spent in an important social network.

After all, I enjoy networking, and LinkedIn helps me stay plugged in to that resource. I can help and connect others there, but not if I’m shunning it.

I hope they’ll accept me back, the prodigal connection.

Photo: greyweed (CC)

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