It’s Been a Decade, but I’m Back on LinkedIn

In recent months, I’ve pivoted the direction of my entrepreneurial business, renamed and rebranded it too. This type of significant change-up requires that I announce my new endeavor to the world. Of course, this meant taking to social media. A decade ago when I began my content creation business, I established a LinkedIn account and connected with people I’d begun working with and with those whom I’d interviewed for articles. It seemed the professional thing to do; to keep in touch with my nascent, yet growing network. I never did use it to its full potential, however, and eventually my business was steadily moving along without the need for much virtual networking. So, my LinkedIn profile languished, even while LinkedIn itself flourished, continuing to connect employers to employees and businesses to businesses in more convenient and interactive ways.

When I determined it would be prudent to go back to LinkedIn to promote my new business, honestly, I panicked a little. Unlike Facebook and Twitter which I frequent daily, I hadn’t set foot on LinkedIn in a decade. Would I know what I was doing? Would it be like starting over on a brand-new social media platform? How much work would it be to revive my hibernating profile?

As I began to tiptoe back into LinkedIn, I realized that I’m probably not the only one who thinks of LinkedIn only when they’re actively looking for a job or clients. And while it’s clear that it is a robust and active business-centered networking site, plenty of people (even businesspeople) don’t go near it unless they have a specific purpose in mind. That’s why I decided to report here on my return to the LinkedIn experience - to help assuage any hesitation someone else might have upon revisiting after a long absence.

To avoid being overwhelm and to give myself a chance to think through the process clearly, I broke the project of reclaiming my presence on LinkedIn into three parts:

Part 1 - Rediscovery

First off, I looked at my existing profile. It had been a long time since I’d read it but it still represented my old gig well, so I left it as it was. I added my new position at the large + symbol under Experience and fleshed out the details. I added a background photo and updated my profile picture. I wrote an About section that tied my present career incarnation to the string of previous positions. Once my new profile was complete, I posted a hashtag-loaded #OpenForBusiness message announcing my new offerings for all to see. LinkedIn has great prompts along the way to help you make next steps. I suggest you take them up on those.

Part 2 - Reacquainting With - and Making New Connections

Next LinkedIn session, I navigated to the My Network tab where I could see my existing connections. The list brought back a lot of names I hadn’t thought of in years! Although it had been a long time, I left most of these folks in the list, but for a handful who are unfortunately no longer with us. I then began searching for people I’ve met since I’d originally established my profile. Instead of just "Following" these contacts, I clicked the More button on their profile and sent them an invitation to Connect, which is a reciprocal relationship rather than a one-sided one. This article explains the difference between Follow and Connect on Linkedin in greater detail. I opted to send a message along with the invitation to provide context as to why I was connecting at this time in case they were unaware of my new business venture.

Part 3 - Communication

Finally, it was time to introduce/reintroduce myself. I made a post explaining what I do and the kinds of clients with whom I ideally want to work. I also read through my timeline on the Home page and happened upon an article of interest which I shared and commented on. I followed an author I discovered that someone I’m connected to had shared. In other words, I just started in on the conversation. Right off the bat I’ve had people reading my content and viewing my profile - which is already more engagement than I’ve had on my other, more social, social media sites.

Moving forward

I plan to visit the site daily during my social media rounds and learn what my community is doing, reading, and building. I’ll comment, share and continue to engage with my connections and, hopefully, grow awareness of my revamped business.

From my perspective, LinkedIn has a lot more "situational" users than other social media platforms. If you’re like me and go for long stretches of time without engaging there, it’s, mercifully, not very difficult to jump back in. I hope this is a useful guide back to LinkedIn.

Have you stepped away from LinkedIn for a long time - or are you a regular user?