There has been a lot going on in the Social Media world this week! With Facebook’s acquisition of whatsapp recently announced, I think a major LinkedIn change has been overlooked. On February 19, 2014 LinkedIn announced that they are opening their Influencer posts to all members. This could significantly change optimization on LinkedIn as well as its use. LinkedIn started as a rather static platform to simply post your resume online and let headhunters find your information. Over the last few years, it has come into its own and become a powerful networking tool.
In today’s content marketing world this could change the face of content marketing for B2B organizations. With sites like inbound.org and Klout aggregating content, LinkedIn is throwing its hat in the ring. In LinkedIn’s blog post about this change, they state:
“When a member publishes a post on LinkedIn, their original content becomes part of their professional profile, is shared with their trusted network and has the ability to reach the largest group of professionals ever assembled. Now members have the ability to follow other members that are not in their network and build their own group of followers. Members can continue to share their expertise by posting photos, images, videos and their original presentations on SlideShare.”
One optimization method I currently use on my LinkedIn profile is adding my blog posts around the web under the publications section. This change could do away with that need. I am excited to see how this will change the way people use LinkedIn. In addition, I am excited about the prospect that publishing content directly on LinkedIn could definitely expand your network reach exponentially. Just imagine if your LinkedIn blog post made it to the top of the list. How many people do you think would view your profile if that happened?
In their blog post, LinkedIn has already set the expectation that this change will take some time to implement which is completely understandable. There is a lot to take into account to make this work in their benefit. They will initially accept 25,000 members and this number will expand to all users within the coming months.
So How Does One Get On Board?
You can register for early access. I am not sure how much of a lead this will give you on getting in on this opportunity, but it can’t hurt. In the Publishing Platform early access application, you will be asked for links to 2 pieces of professional content you have written. Make sure you have that in order first. You will also be required to give your First Name, Last Name, LinkedIn profile URL, and Email address. If you go to the early access page while logged in to your account, it will prepopulate your First Name, Last Name, and Profile URL. All you will enter is your Email, and the two links to content you have written.
Are you interested in optimizing your LinkedIn profile and are not sure where to start?
Do you own a business and want to maximize your reach on LinkedIn and actually gain new customers?
If you answered yes to either of these two questions, you need to contact me today. I can help.
I would love to hear from you. I am open to Full-Time Remote positions, specific client projects, and consultant work.
