10 Ways journalists can use LinkedIn
A few months ago, I saw Guy Kawasaki’s blog post, 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn, and it made me realize that you can use LinkedIn for a lot more than just networking. For example, journalists can get value from LinkedIn both as a research tool and as a tool for career development:
Here are ten ways for journalists to use LinkedIn:
1. Get noticed for the work you do
I’ve seen a lot of journalists with pretty sparse profiles. This is a mistake. You don’t have to write a novel, but at least put information about your areas of interest so that people know what to contact you for. The text that you include is searchable, so if you’re looking for travel-writing gigs, make sure you include this somewhere in your profile. Also, listing your past employers and education makes it easier for old colleagues and classmates to find you. Here’s an example of a well crafted profile: David Lidsky, Senior Editor of Fast Company.
2. Build a network without making networking your full-time job
To use LinkedIn well, you need at least 20 connections. But, this doesn’t mean you should connect to every publicist who sends you an invitation. LinkedIn works best when you connect to your top sources, important industry contacts, coworkers, and people who know you well. These are the people who can help you do your job, find new opportunities and pass on story ideas that are more likely to be of interest to you.
3. Network without suffering the deluge of requests to “write about me!”
Journalists and high-profile bloggers tend to be highly coveted individuals. In fact, TechCrunch blogger, Michael Arrington, is the second most contacted person on LinkedIn (after LinkedIn’s founder). Control who makes it to your in-box by going to LinkedIn’s Accounts & Settings page to alter your notification preferences. If you find yourself overwhelmed with requests, you can opt to receive notifications once a week or only when you log into the LinkedIn website.
4. Use a connection to get a great assignment.
If you’re a freelancer or looking for a job, perform a search in the “Writing and Editing” industry sorted by “Degrees away from you” to see who might be able to help you in your network.
5. Find an expert fast
The advanced search feature is the most powerful tools you can use on LinkedIn. You can search for any combination of keywords, job title, company, location, industry, and you can sort by “degrees away from you” to find people close to you in your network. This is a great way to find experts in almost any field or subject matter. You can also track down executives at companies.
6. Confirm a rumor
One of the best ways to find out the inside scoop on companies is to find former employees who are willing to talk to you. To do this, use LinkedIn’s advanced search for the company’s name and uncheck the “Current companies only” box. The results will include both current and past employees.
7. Get responses to queries from non-PR types
Often, if you send a query to a place like PRLeads, you get mostly public relations people answering you. This works fine in most cases, but sometimes you need something different - for example a quote from a type of person who would not typically hire a publicist. LinkedIn’s Answers service allows you to ask questions to the network and get answers from a wide range of people. Answers are tied to the professional profile of the person who responded so you can quickly assess credibility and determine whether to contact the person. Here’s an example of a journalist’s question on LinkedIn Answers.
8. Get ideas for sources, topics and trends
If you don’t want to post a question, LinkedIn Answers has a search box that allows you to search the archives. This is a great way to search for sources. A search for keyword “Des Moines” will likely find you folks in the city who like to talk about it, a search for “iPhone” will show you some of the buzz around the product. A great way to get ideas for stories is to peruse through the various categories of LinkedIn Answers to find out what people are saying about topics and trends. For example, here are a few of the many categories: career development, personal finance, technology.
9. Qualify pitches
If you find yourself getting daily pitches from the “hottest new [insert industry buzzword] company,” try searching for the company on LinkedIn. Take a look to see if you are connected to any of the employees, check out their profiles, their backgrounds, and their relationships. If they’re really hot, then they’re probably connected to key industry movers and shakers.
10. Promote your book!
LinkedIn allows you to publicize websites. There are a few pre-selected categories like “My Website,” “My Company,” etc. If you select “Other” you can modify the name of the link. If you have a book, you can create a link to a webpage that promotes it or directly to an Amazon page where people can buy it. You can bet that I was all over this feature: My new book: Brazen Careerist.
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12 Comments »
I like LinkedIn, but so far I’ve found it only of limited use in my work as a journalist. This is mostly because to unlock many of the best features - such as contacting someone you’re not connected to - you have to pay a fee vastly in excess of the worth of the service.
It would be OK, it you could find someone’s name by job title, then track them down by more traditional means, but that’s usually not possible.
It’s been of more use to me in solidifying contacts with editors than sources.
Posted by Jess | April 25, 2007
You just gave me a good idea about doing a quick question on LinkedIn. I’m polling HR practitioners about how they chose their career path — corporate or consulting — and how they arrived in the first place. I posted a Q on LinkedIn…thanks for the idea!
Posted by Frank Roche | April 25, 2007
Well, gee, that just blew an afternoon for me!
I was not familiar with LinkedIn, so instead of working on the article I’m SUPPOSED to be writing, I had to go figure it out. It was very interesting to see who has a profile among the people that I know and/or have worked with.
We’ll see if this results in anything, but now it’s almost 8 pm and I really must return to the correct grindstone.
Must-not-ever-read-Penelope’s-feed-until-work-is-done….aaaggghhhh….:)
Posted by Sheila at Family Travel | April 26, 2007
WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP….ETIQUETTE??
IF YOU ARE LINKEDIN…….. YOUR LOCKED OUT!!! FORGET THIS SITE FOR REAL NETWORKING!
I DELETED MY ACCOUNT, AND SO DID ALL MY FRIEND AT CBS NETWORK!
This site is the biggest scam , on the Internet. They are NOT a friendly Professional business site. To network, means to meet new people in your related Industry. They don’t advertise the fact that the first time you send an email to add a contact, that person can send the ”don’t know you” response, and then with very few,,like 3..they lock your account down, to have to ”know everyone you send an add to. Kinda of defeats the idea, of BUSINESS NETWORKING! I NEVER SPAM! To be a treated like one was a real insult. No one is home in customer service, auto-responses only. It’s just a trick, to get you to upgrade, more money! AND, they also have a very low classed- environment, [ MONEY DOESN’T BUY CLASS] That uses the dreaded” don’t know you response” to dishonestly, eliminate the competition. They send that response on you to purposely , use linkedin’s stupid ”rule” to keep you from being on the site to network, because they know, how easy it is to get your site locked. I was told, if you pay, we will fix it, $200 per month later…still can’t use my account, and they kept my money. It’s not a proper business model for any professional. What I found there was the pre-school bullies,,, all grown up, still much more egotistical. Are you good enough to join our group of pathetic losers??? No, Thankfully I guess not. I will be blogging about this much hyped, poor business site, EVERYWHERE!! To save good people from this very bad experience. Don’t believe the hype of this poorly run site. First of all,,,does everyone in the World ”know each other”?? Most of all, read your own advertisements!!! It doesn’t say ”network site for only people who know each other” or, we will keep your money, and lockdown your networking abilities if 3 people say ”they don’t” know you! False advertising, insulting to real professionals, who think it’s a real networking site. No warning til after they take your money, about the hidden-unwritten rules. Also, the REAL spammers, that PAID the highest monthly rate..still networking, NOT CLOSED DOWN! my average, 80 contacts knew me, only 3 said they didn’t. So 3 out of 80!!! I’m Definitely NOT a spammer. Someone needs to put these guys out of business. SOON…. This situation is so common, that their is a group on their site called ”toplinked” and, they have better respectful members. The main thing was the total ruthless attitude of the linkedin members, and lack of respect by the managers and owners of this site. I paid for them to insult me. NO REAL MANAGEMENT,
NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL. - ALL AUTO-RESPONSE- NO RESPECT!!!
Posted by Barbra nuen | March 30, 2008
NETWORKING MEANS MEETING PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW!
LINKEDIN—– THE UN-NETWORKING SITE
WHY WOULD I USE A WEBSITE..TO ”NETWORK” PEOPLE I ALREADY KNOW??? I CAN INVITE THEM TO MY OFFICE!,
OR HOME. PRETENTIOUS ”FAKE STATIS WANNABE’S”
THAT NEED TO LEARN ”RESPECT” FOR ALL PEOPLE.
Posted by Barbra nuen | March 30, 2008
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