[Update: The linking of blogs became impossible when LinkedIn updated and abandoned the use of applications in 2011/12 – you can still share items from your own blog in terms of Content Marketing but you can no longer link the actual blog to your profile.]
I don’t know about you, but I like to get as much benefit as possible from the work that I put into something.
My blogs are a great example of that. I’ve been running a blog for over 5 years now and also have set blogs up for, I guess, over 200 companies and individuals in that time. I still help organisations understand how blogs integrate into their marketing, PR or business development plans and, done right, they’re a fabulous business tool – a combination of push marketing, with relationship building and search engine marketing all in one nice little bundle. A key component in the social media as well as the internet marketing mix.
Use your Blog on your LinkedIn Profile
One place where all the information from your blog is going to be particularly valuable is over on your LinkedIn profile. It’s the perfect place to display things you’ve written that demonstrate your experience and expertise or show off the services / products you provide. A perfect supplement to all the other details you provide.
Linking up your blog means that the title and summary appear there automatically every time you post without you lifting a finger. They also link directly to the blog post meaning that there is another conduit back to your own site and the rest of the information contained there. So donning my fairy Godmother outfit for a second – not a pretty sight at the best of times – here’s how you do it.
In the main menu on LinkedIn, hover over “More” and then click on “Get More Applications” which is at the bottom of the list. You should now find yourself on the Applications page – there are two which will link and display your blog on your profile, WordPress and Blog Link – icons are as below.
While I am a big WordPress fan, here I think that the Blog Link one is better suited to most people, but try them out, you can always remove them. Anyway, click on the icon, follow the short instructions on the page and, as they say, voilà!
Now, anytime you add a new blog post to your blog, it will automatically appear on your LinkedIn profile as well giving you push marketing, website promotion and reputation building all into the bargain.
