Top 5 LinkedIn Mistakes to Avoid to Land Your Dream Job

Planning to change your job soon? You should then start looking for a new one for sure. There might be many ways to do that. And among them, the online world is surely one of the best ways to do it. There are so many websites that might help you find the right kind of job. But you can also go for some social media site for this as well. There are multiple social media websites that can help you find the right kind of job. For example, in addition to using it for connecting at personal levels, you can also depend on Facebook to look for jobs. However, when it comes to connecting professionally, LinkedIn surely rules the roost.

With as many as 347 million members on it, LinkedIn has all the potential that’s necessary to be a perfect job search platform. It can be used to connect with the people who can help you find your dream job. However, there are also a few mistakes that people commit while using LinkedIn for job search. Here’s a quick look at some of them.

Not Uploading Any Image on Profile

It’s your picture that has the ability to make the first impression on your potential employer. And it is the first thing that you should include in your LinkedIn profile when you are planning to use the platform for job search. LinkedIn expert Nicole Williams says, “You’re seven times more likely to have your profile viewed if you have one. Like a house that’s on sale, the assumption is that if there’s no photo, something’s wrong.” So, if you are eager to impress your potential employer immediately, the best thing that you can do is upload a picture in your LinkedIn profile. It’s sort of essential to use this image in the LinkedIn profile.

Using Someone Else’s Image

Do you have an image for your profile on LinkedIn? Is it your original image? If it’s not, then you are surely making a major mistake. There are several profiles on LinkedIn, which do not have the original photos of their owners. And the image should also show you in your professional best. LinkedIn is one of the major professional profiles. Hence, it should not show you in your personal avatar at all. You need to appear professional there, so that you can attract the attention of your potential employers.

Ignoring the Past Experience Part

You are looking for a job through LinkedIn. But is it the first job that you are looking for? Are you a fresher? Or, do you have some kind of experience of working somewhere else? Even if the job you have done is not relevant to what you are currently searching for, you should still show the experience in your profile. And the space for experience in the LinkedIn profile should not be left blank. You should fill it up with relevant details. You can find several profiles on Twitter, which do not have these details. And this is a mistake that backfires, especially when you are looking to enhance your LinkedIn profile to find a new job.

Not Giving Enough Attention to the LinkedIn Summary

An old format of resume had a part called the summary, which used to put forth your career highlights. The LinkedIn profile is necessary to attract the attention of your potential employers. So, it is also important to create a great summary that’s going to act as a resume for you in a way. You need to fill it up. But it has been observed that many profiles don’t have that part completed. So, it’s better to fill up the LinkedIn summary to complete the profile in a proper way.

Not Using the Privacy Settings of LinkedIn

Are you aware of the privacy settings that LinkedIn offers? There are quite a few of them. And it’s essential for you to have a proper idea about each of them. You don’t want your current boss or colleagues from the present company to know that you are planning to change the job, do you? Of course not. Besides, while looking for a new job, you are sure to have conversations with different people. You should also not let your employers have a look at those. And for this, it is essential to have the privacy settings in such a way that it is blocked from people whom you don’t want to see this.

If you are planning to use your LinkedIn profile to search for a job, it is essential for the profile to have every characteristic to attract the attention of the potential employers. And if you are successful in that, you will surely have the chance of landing your dream job right from LinkedIn. But for that, it is essential to do away with the common LinkedIn mistakes to get the best results.

Content Marketing for Startups: A Strategic Overview

Establishing a business isn't an easy task. However, running it successfully is far more challenging and difficult. As a startup, your business is like a child that needs a lot more attention than the grownups. It is essential to measure every step of the content marketing endeavors for your business. And if you can do that prudently, you can surely expect an amazing return from it in terms of enhanced revenues.

When you are planning the strategies for your startup, it’s essential to plan your content marketing properly as well. Because content still rules the web world.

So, how can you plan content marketing for your startup?

Here’s a quick look at some of the most effective content marketing strategies that can help your startup grow:

• Try to engage the customers; don’t focus only on selling
• Offer some value to your potential customers
•  Focus on topic selection
• Create short and crisp content
• Bring diversity in the content planning
• Include breaks of different types

If you can plan your content creation and marketing properly, it can come in extremely handy for your business.

Engage Customers before Selling

For any profit for your business, you need to sell some of the products that you have. But that comes at a later stage. At the very beginning, you need to engage the customers. And only then you can expect them to convert them for better business deals. So, the first thing that you need to do with your content is to tell your story. But you should not do this only because it will act as a sort of publicity for your company. Instead, try to establish your brand through the tale. Make people understand the principles for which your startup stands, your long-term objectives. Let them know how your startup can add value to them. Tell them the challenges that you have faced and how you’ve overcome them. Remember, a story about “beating the odds” always attracts people.

Provide Value for the Customers

Add value to your potential customers. That’s one of the best ways possible to curve out a niche for your brand. A startup, of course, does not have any fan following at the beginning. That is, only until it starts offering some values to its potential customers. But once you put yourself in your customers’ shoes and start sharing effective solutions for the common challenges faced by them, they are sure to notice you. Know their pain points and offer answers for the same. And this can be a great way forward towards establishing your brand and making it a well-known name among your target audience.

Select a Topic Prudently

Selecting a topic is one of the most important things in process of the content marketing. Doing it correctly can be one of the best ways to get the content marketing of your startup rolling successfully. Remember a few things while selecting it:

• Write about something that’s in-vogue.
• Select a topic, which will perform well.

And for this, again you will have to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Try to understand what they are looking for most and offer it through your content.

Make It Short and Crisp

When will people read the content for your startup? You surely don’t have a definite answer to this question. While they might sit at home and spend a long time reading the content, they might even go through it within a short time during a journey. And in this busy world, you can’t expect your target audience to invest hours together to complete reading a content. So, it’s better to create something that can be completed and comprehended within a short time. So, make the content short. Make it crisp and easy to understand to get your idea across within a short time.

Share Diverse Content

You are performing the content marketing for your startup. You are posting long blogs and articles on a regular basis. Yet, no difference is visible. There might be a simple reason for that. People these days don’t have time to go through long blocks of text. So, try to add some variety in the content that you post. You can use:

• Videos
• Images
• Infographics

Make all these an integral part of your content marketing strategy to keep the audience glued to the content you share. The more diverse content you share, the more you will be able to attract them.

Create Breaks in between the Texts

You might share loads of information through the content you are sharing for your startup. But make sure they are not just chunks of text. Remember, you need to create an F-shaped pattern in the text you are creating to get the best response for the content from the readers. For this, you have to add breaks in between. Add images to convey what you want as much as you can. Besides, make maximum use of the white space on the web page to ensure that the text isn't creating a tiring experience.

While setting up a business, it’s essential to measure every step that you are taking. You might even take the help of social media to spread the content across and increase its viewership. It will help to enhance the brand name of your startup as well.

Top Tips to Start Your Own Blog Successfully

Blogging! Well, it seems this is the buzzword these days. Especially in the field of digital marketing, which itself is booming right now. And besides using it for the business marketing purpose, a lot of people are doing it out of sheer passion and interest, or even for some extra income. But is it really that easy to start a blog and get it running? Well, the truth is, it isn’t. You need to follow a few specific steps to get started on the journey of blogging. And even after you do that, there needs to be proper follow ups to ensure that your blog performs well and attracts readers on a regular basis.

Choose a Correct Niche

Blog Writing Tips

Well, no matter when and where you are writing, this has to be the first step when planning your blog. And you need to do this prudently enough as well. But how can you choose the topic for your blog? What is a ‘correct’ niche? Is there some specific subject, which you love? May be something in which you have a deep knowledge? These can really be a great way to find the topic for your blog. You need to find the right niche or topic, which usually has a high traffic. If you are writing on some topic, which no one searches for on the internet, well, it’s of no use at all.

Select the Name Prudently

The Bard might have said: “What’s in a name”, but it is better you don’t pay any heed to it while selecting the name of your blog. This is one of the most important things that you need to attend. The selection of the blog’s name needs to be prudent. You have to ensure that the name is attractive enough for the viewers. Besides, they should also be able to remember the name with ease.

Read Major Blogs in the Same Niche

Do you spend enough time reading blogs written by others? Especially the most popular ones in your niche? Well, if you don’t, start it immediately. Without reading them, it is difficult for you to have a clear idea about the topics, the market and the upcoming trends there. So, you need to select a few major blogs about the market that you are targeting and keep a tab on them. You should follow their updates on a regular basis. This is likely to give you an insight of the market and the things happening there.

Target the Most Searched for Keywords

You need to target the best keywords as well. Make full use of the different types of keyword suggestion tools, such as Google Adwords, SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool, and so on. But what’s the use of writing on keywords, which are not searched by anybody at all? So, make sure you choose those keywords, which are extremely popular in Google search. And when choosing them, keep in mind both long-tail and short-tail keywords. For example, if you are planning to write on a trip to an island in Malaysia, you can add both – ‘island trip’ or ‘island trip in Malaysia’. While the former is a short-tail keyword, the latter is its long-tail counterpart.

Try to be Different, Unique

Be Different

What is the niche you have chosen? Is it unique? Probably not. And you must be knowing that as well. There are zillions of blogs on the web and many of them might already be dealing with the topics that you are writing on. So, why should people be reading your blog? That’s why you need to be different. You have to offer them a new and unique perspective even on the age-old topics. This is surely going to be difficult. However, this can be the magic touch that your blog needs. Something, which will attract maximum traffic within the shortest possible time. So, try to be unique and different.

Use the Most Attractive Images

Images can do wonders to your blog. Yes, you read it right! Even if your blog has nothing to do with photography, you have to include excellent photos in it. Photographs, if they are good enough, are surely the most attractive component of a blog page. A blog with an enchanting photograph experiences much more share than one without an image or with a drab one. So, it is a great idea to include a relevant image in your blog, which will make it more attractive for the viewers. They will share it more than ever before. This, in turn, will help your blog to gain more popularity among the readers, which is expected to reflect through the positive impact on the balance sheet as well.

Maintain Regularity in Posting

How frequently are you going to post in your blog? There might be a number of people who may follow your blog on a regular basis. So, you need to provide them with new insights with every blog post. You can do it once or twice a week. If possible, you can also create a number of blogs on a daily basis. Whatever you decide, always stick to it. Try to be a frequent blogger and do not fail to post on the scheduled day. This is surely going to create a sense of anticipation among the regular readers for your blog post.

Start Building Email Marketing List from Day One

When you have posted in your blog, the most important thing you will look for is readers. You will try to reach out to as many readers as possible with your blog. And one of the best ways to do that is through email marketing. Create a specific email referring to the blog. Make sure that you can send as many emails to your target audience as possible. And for that, you will need an extensive list of email addresses. Try to start building your email marketing list from day one. It will turn out to be one of the most important steps for marketing your blog.

These few steps can come in extremely handy and help you establish a blog with great success within a short time.

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