One of the biggest deterrents people have when it come to learning how to use LinkedIn is how much time it takes. Between profile keywords, groups and all the new features they’re always rolling out, it can be overwhelming.
The good news is you don’t have to learn everything all at once in order to use LinkedIn effectively. (Tweet this thought.) Here’s our guide on how to organize your LinkedIn usage so you don’t feel overwhelmed:
1. Start Small
You can do a lot on LinkedIn in 30 minutes a day.
If you’re totally new, use their guided setup to get your profile up and running. Or, use those 30 minutes to find new connections. Using LinkedIn in small chunks familiarizes you with everything it can do without driving you nuts. Remember that even a little bit goes a long way in the world of social media.
2. Consolidate Some LinkedIn Tasks
The easiest way to make things less overwhelming is to consolidate.
For example, you often hear that you need to be active in groups and simultaneously share relevant content on your profile page. You can usually kill two birds with one stone here. Chances are, the groups you’re visiting already share content and useful articles about your industry. You can then share those on your profile.
3. Use the “Batching” Method
Batching is a productivity trick where you dedicate blocks of time to similar tasks. If you get the ball rolling on a certain task, it’s likely it will keep rolling. Meanwhile, if you try to switch to another task, you lose your focus and get distracted.
You can use the batching method on LinkedIn to avoid feeling overwhelmed. For instance, maybe today you spend 60 minutes only looking for new contacts. Then perhaps tomorrow you spend 60 minutes only educating yourself about keywords. The trick is not to switch from one thing to another so that you keep your focus.
4. Use a Web Clipper to Collect Content to Share Later
How often do we find a great article online, only to get distracted from what we were doing? Or, how often do we read the article, make a mental note that we should put it on LinkedIn and then totally forget? Probably more often than we like to admit.
You can use a free web clipper like Evernote to “save” these articles for later. Simply create a folder (or “notebook” in Evernote’s case) and name it “LinkedIn.” As you go throughout your day, simply use the browser extension to “clip” the article and use it later. You can also set reminders so you won’t forget to put them on LinkedIn.
5. Subscribe to the LinkedIn Blog
LinkedIn has a great blog with tips and resources to help you get the hang of this social media platform. They also keep you up-to-date on the latest happenings. This is a great way to turn down all the noise online about how to use LinkedIn. Simply put, if any changes occur (and they probably will), you can hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. You can sign up via email to stay in-the-know of all things LinkedIn.
Learning how to use LinkedIn may take some getting used to, but taking it in organized baby steps will help make it easier.
How do you fight being overwhelmed by social media to-dos? Share in the comments!
This post originally appeared on Chameleon Resumes.
Image: Flickr
