As I have been conducting LinkedIn profile reviews for job seekers and business owners, I have noticed that the LinkedIn profile STATUS BAR is often overlooked and underutilized.
Context… and the Danger of Ping
The status bar feature gives you a chance to report on your personal or business-related “current events.” You may recognize the status bar from other social media sites:
Facebook users change their status bar regularly and can be rather creative with the things they report. You might see anything from “I was rudely introduced to the hungry Pothole from Hell in Boston which ate my tire” to “Delayed in Atlanta. Renewing vow never to take connecting flights” to “…is saving lives one shopping mall at a time.” You probably would not want any of these status reports to show up on your LinkedIn profile.
Then there’s Twitter. How can you sell your wares, report important news, or, better yet, say something pithy, in 140 characters or less? Yesterday I saw this one: “This dream today embattled with its back against the wall, to save the dream 4 one, it must be saved 4 all” Langston Hughes (2nd time/ #fb). Wow was that really Twitter-compliant? Guess Langston was ahead of his time.
So what about the LinkedIn status bar? What to do with this one? Well, we know off the bat that you are on LinkedIn for business networking purposes. We also know that a Twitter-proof status update like “Discover the Best Anti Aging Vitamins That Will Change Your Life… http://tinyurl.com/xlr52pz” might not cut it on LinkedIn’s information-sharing and networking-focused site. Or would it?
To all you Pingers out there, Ping, if set up properly, sends out the same status update message to all your social media groups. Be careful if you’re including LinkedIn in your Ping targets!
Report on your Business-related Activities
LinkedIn suggests the following starts to your status: “working on…”, “traveling to…”, “looking for advice on…”, “looking for a job…” or “reading…” I personally have taken a bit of a direct selling posture in my status bar, at least sometimes. I keep track of the countdown in terms of how many LinkedIn profile reviews I have to offer at my $25 price. I don’t have evidence as to whether or not it’s effective.
I think the most effective status bars report on current trainings, travels, ideas, etc. that show your readers that you are serious about your profession. Or you can post a link to your blog if you want to send people there. After all, you’re on LinkedIn because of your profession right?
If you were looking for an SEO optimization specialist, and you were browsing LinkedIn profiles, wouldn’t you like to see that your prospective SEO optimizer is at a conference that week in the field, or that she is leading a webinar or writing a blog on the subject? You probably wouldn’t care about this person’s flat tire or shopping plans, or even about the person’s visits to see the grandchildren. It is imperative as you update your status that you consider what your audience would want to read about you.
Update Frequently
Make sure you don’t have a status bar on LinkedIn that is more than 6 days old (and preferably no more than 1-2 days old). Even if you repeat the same information, update it!! It can change from “is at a conference” to “is just back from a conference.” Keep it current and your readers will know that you are serious about your business – not to mention that your connections will be reminded of your status if your settings and theirs permit it.
Your Profile Settings
You can’t do anything about your contacts’ settings… but you can make sure that you have your Status Visibility (under Profile Settings) set to “Your current status is visible to everyone.”
And then go update it! Isn’t it worth composing a few lines every few days to get this visibility?
Frankly, if you are on LinkedIn, updating your status bar is *part of your business.” Do it often and do it well, and start getting the attention you want out of your LinkedIn profile.
For a $25 review of your LinkedIn profile, Click Here .? 12 reviews remaining at the $25 price as of the time of this posting!
Tags: LinkedIn, LinkedIn Profile, Status Bar
