To be honest, I never really had an opinion about LinkedIn. What I mean is I don't pay for advance services or options for my profile account. I have the basic free account, I'm in a few groups (who send me digest updates of discussions) and I get "Connect" requests. My profile is basic and does give a nice quick snapshot on all I do and have done. I don't promote my LinkedIn profile at all. In fact, I think it is my least maintained social media platform I have.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw an email from LinkedIn saying my profile is one the Top 5% Most Viewed LinkedIn Profiles. Really? But it doesn't stop there...nope I even was sent a form letter. See below.
Hi Virginia S,
Recently, LinkedIn reached a new milestone: 200 million members. But this isn't just our achievement to celebrate — it's also yours.
I want to personally thank you for being part of our community. Your journey is part of our journey, and we're delighted and humbled when we hear stories of how our members are using LinkedIn to connect, learn, and find opportunity.
All of us come to work each day focused on our shared mission of connecting the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. We're excited to show you what's next.
With sincere thanks,
Deep Nishar
Senior Vice President, Products & User Experience
What does this all mean? Well it means you should use all and every means to build your social platform as a freelance writer and published author. It means you don't have to spend most your day maintaining your social network profiles, but you do need to post stuff twice a month to once a week if you want exposure. You don't have to post about you, your work or books. I post at all my social media sites daily, but 1 to 5 percent is about me...the rest is about others in the industry. By sharing your passions, what is happening in your industry/genre, interesting tidbits, etc. you grow a following.
Yes, it is great to have fans and followers, but they don't want to hear you talking about yourself all the time. They want to know what you are passionate about, what hobbies you have and interests. I'm glad my LinkedIn friends and followers have enjoyed checking out my profile feed on what I'm up to...or actually sharing what I find interesting.
Thank you LinkedIn your support and THANK YOU to all who follow me on my various social platforms. I hope to bring you more interesting tidbits in 2013!
Want to visit my LinkedIn Profile, which is one of the top 5% most viewed @LinkedIn profiles for 2012. Visit me here http://www.linkedin.com/pub/profile/28/260/222