Keeping your profile current is critical to your success on LinkedIn. Creating your initial profile may be a one-time task, but you need to update it regularly to let others know you’re an active participant on LinkedIn. In addition to updating your actual profile, LinkedIn enables you to post frequent status updates to inform your network about your activities and accomplishments.

LinkedIn status updates let you communicate important news to LinkedIn members in 140 characters or less. When you update your status, this text appears on your profile and on the Network Updates section of your connections’ home page.

Brevity is the key to a status update: You need to express important information concisely. You can include links in status updates but no text formatting. If you’re familiar with Twitter, you’ll understand the concept of brief text updates. However, unlike Twitter, LinkedIn doesn’t display a list of all your prior updates. Your status update remains on your profile indefinitely until you either delete it or replace it with a new status update.

Although status updates are a fun way to let your connections know what’s new in your life, they are also a strategic networking tool. Keep your goals in mind and post updates that help achieve them. Here are some examples:

The fastest way to update your status is in the Network Updates section on your home page (see Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. Use a status update to let other LinkedIn members know what you’re doing.

Enter your status in the text box labeled What Are You Working on Now? and click the Update button.

Alternatively, you can use the status update pop-up box to update your status. You can access this box in two ways:

Figure 5.2 illustrates the status update pop-up box.

Figure 5.2. You can also enter a status update in this pop-up box.

Enter your status in the text box and click the Save button.

The Visible To field tells you who can view your status updates. If you want to change this, click the Edit link next to this field to open the Status Visibility page.

On this page, you can specify whether you want your status updates visible to your connections, to your network, or to everyone. Click the Save Settings button to save your changes.

To delete a status update, click the Clear link below your status on your home page or in the status update pop-up box. Entering a new status update also removes your previous update.

When your status appears in your connections’ Network Updates section on their home page, they can enter their own comments by clicking the Add Comment link below your status update. They can also send you a private message by clicking the Reply Privately link.

If your connections have entered comments about your status update, you’ll see a link beneath your posted status update on your home page and on your profile. The link tells you how many comments you have (for example, 2 Comments). Click this link to view your comments and add your own feedback to the discussion.

Even if you create a thorough profile when you first sign up for LinkedIn, you’ll eventually want to update it with recent information.

You should update your LinkedIn profile whenever your employment status changes, you receive a degree or certification, win an award, learn a new skill, start a new business, achieve a career milestone, or change your LinkedIn goals. To update your profile, click the Edit My Profile link in the expanded left navigation menu. The Profile page opens with the Edit My Profile tab active, shown in Figure 5.3.

Figure 5.3. Be sure to update your profile regularly with new information.

The Edit My Profile tab is the same place you first created your profile, so you should already be familiar with its content. After you first enter profile data, links such as Add Past Position or Add Education disappear. Instead, click the Edit link next to any field you want to update. The appropriate LinkedIn page opens, where you can make any required changes.

You can also click the Current, Past, Education, Recommended, Connections, and Website links to enter data or make changes in those sections.

See Lesson 2, “Creating Your Profile,” for more information about the content you can enter on the Edit My Profile tab.

With your permission, LinkedIn makes a public version of your profile available for view and search on the web. Figure 5.4 shows a sample LinkedIn profile link in Google search results.

Figure 5.4. Your LinkedIn public profile appears in Google search results.

To customize the appearance of your public profile, click the Account & Settings link on the top navigation menu and click the Public Profile link on the Account & Settings page.

Lesson 2, “Creating Your Profile,” provided details on how to manage your public profile. As a reminder, here are tips to maximize your profile’s online visibility:

In addition to maintaining a public profile, you can also post a LinkedIn button on your website, blog, or online resume. Figure 5.5 shows a sample button.

Figure 5.5. Site visitors can click your LinkedIn button to view your profile.

Click the Customized Buttons link on the Public Profile page to open the Promote Your Profile! page, where you can select the button style you prefer. LinkedIn offers a special button for TypePad users, but you can place your button on any blog or website. For example, a blog sidebar is a great place for a LinkedIn button. Copy the HTML code LinkedIn provides and paste it into your own site.

A third way to promote your LinkedIn profile on the web is to include a link to your public profile URL on the following:

English is the primary language on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn is a decidedly international network with more than half its members residing outside the United States. In Europe, for example, LinkedIn is the number one professional networking site in 43 countries. To meet the needs of its many international members, LinkedIn offers several foreign language features.

The LinkedIn interface is available in four languages: English, French, Spanish, and German. To view LinkedIn in another language, click the Language link on the top navigation menu and select your preferred language. Figure 5.6 shows the LinkedIn interface in French.

Figure 5.6. The LinkedIn interface is available in French as well as three other languages.

Keep in mind that even if you view the LinkedIn interface in another language, this doesn’t translate the user-generated content of an individual member’s profile. The profile content remains in the original language the member used to create it.

To display your profile content in another language, you need to create a profile in that language. For example, someone involved in international business or residing in a country with more than one official language might want to create profiles in multiple languages.

To create a profile in another language, follow these steps:

LinkedIn members can choose to view your profile in another language by selecting their preferred language from the Profile drop-down list in the upper-right corner of your profile, shown in Figure 5.7.

Figure 5.7. Members can choose to view your profile content in any of the language versions you create.

You can print and download your profile, or the profile of another LinkedIn member, by clicking one of the icons in the upper-right corner of a profile, shown in Figure 5.8.

Figure 5.8. Print or download your profile.

Your options include

In this lesson, you learned how to update your status and profile, promote your profile on the web, create a profile in another language, and print and download your profile. Next, learn the many ways to communicate with other members and become part of the LinkedIn community.