LinkedIn PR-Top 10 Ways to Become a Subject Matter Expert

Top 10 Ways to Quickly Becoming a Recognized Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn by Barbara Rozgonyi

featured in “Sticks & Stones: How Digital Reputations are Built Over Time and Lost in a Click” by Larry Weber

copyright 2007-present to request permission to publish this article, contact corywestmedia@gmail dot com
Need to quote a LinkedIn expert or engage a LinkedIn speaker? Call me at 630.207.7530.

1. Grow your connections in the categories you want to reach; review every invitation before you accept to see if there’s a fit with your profile.

2. After you accept an invitation, reply with a quick personal message that includes a few bullet points about what you do, an opportunity to ask questions about your industry and additional ways to connect with you online such as your blog, ezine or forum.

3. Present your profile to match the audience you want to target with benefits or accomplishments that highlight your expertise to draw them in.

4. In the websites section of your profile, add a link to a page that lists your news, social media bio, articles or publications.

5. In the answers area, post questions that collect information for a report or survey you’ll publish as a white paper based on your LinkedIn community’s experience.

6. Answer relevant questions with specific information based on your expertise and work your way up to becoming an expert by giving top-rated answers.

7. Match your industries to your network, unless you’re a consultant to a specific industry who will benefit from being visible to your peers as well as your consulting base.

8. Talk about your LinkedIn networking experiences on your blog and in your marketing communications and make your LinkedIn site [www.linkedin.com/in/yourname] as prominent as your home page URL in all communications

9. Get recommended as an expert resource by asking those who value your insights to write a reference that promotes you [and them!].

10. Redirect interest to your own personal community, such a blog or forum, where people can learn, contribute and continue the dialogue with a link to or mention of the community in your public profile and track traffic to measure results.

To read other smart ways to use LinkedIn and find out how to contribute comments, visit Scott Allen’s blog.

Click on this button and you’ll go to my LinkedIn profile.

Update June 7, 2009

Thanks to Paul D. Kretkowski of HR World for mentioning me in his article, Think Linked, along with Andrea Morris, Guy Kawasaki, Liz Ryan and Chris Brogan.

Browse the LinkedIn PR Article Collection by Barbara Rozgonyi

Update 06.22.07

Welcome LinkedIntelligence readers! Thanks again to Scott Allen for sponsoring the Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn contest. My prize? Registration and hotel to BlogWorld and New Media Expo.

Kudos to Scott Allen for starting Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn – A Group Blogging Project.

Update August 26, 2009
Moved the updates to the end. 🙂 Thanks for your interest in this post! Keep the comments and the invitations to connect coming!

Update January 22, 2010
In 2009, I presented social media, marketing and PR programs to 26 groups and approximately 1,000 people. This LinkedIn 101 presentation has over 1400 views on slideshare.net and is a good place to start if you’re looking to build out your LinkedIn profile.

Update July 2, 2011
Celebrating one year of being featured as the LinkedIn expert co-author in “Success Secrets of the Social Media Marketing Superstars.” Disclosure: Posts on this blog may contain affiliate ads and links, which means I will receive compensation for sales made through these connections.

Need to quote a LinkedIn expert or engage a LinkedIn speaker? Call me at 630.207.7530.