Power Your Executive Brand with LinkedIn Groups

You’ve worked hard on getting your branded, searchable, 100% complete LinkedIn profile up and humming. What’s next?

One of LinkedIn’s most powerful networking features that’s bringing great value to me is Groups. For executive job search, LinkedIn Groups can be invaluable for communicating your personal brand and unique promise of value to potential employers.

According to the LinkedIn Learning Center:

“LinkedIn Groups is your destination to find and join communities of professionals based on common interest, experience, affiliation, and goals. Stay in touch with organizations, schools, and companies that you are and were a part of, network with professionals with similar interests and goals, and collaborate in a professional community online.

LinkedIn Groups allows group organizations to extend their brand’s reach and strengthen the brand with existing users by providing additional value through LinkedIn’s features.”

I land new business because of my participation with LinkedIn Groups. You may land your next gig through your participation with LinkedIn Groups.

Groups are a terrific way to:

• Hobnob with and express your executive brand directly to key decision makers at your target companies or organizations,
• Position yourself as an industry thought leader and subject matter expert,
• Build a strong executive network with new faces,
• Give value, help your network, and thereby build trust and brand equity, and
• LEARN.

Getting started:

Search Groups in the Groups Directory. Choose from the “Categories” drop-down menu:

• Alumni
• Corporate
• Conference
• Networking
• Non-profit
• Professional

Or search groups by company name, industry and relevant keywords in the LinkedIn search bar at the top right of any page (click the drop-down menu for “Groups”).

Some groups are open to all and allow instant membership. For others, you may be subject to review by the group manager.

• When you join, elect to display the group logo on your profile. This is a good way to let people who are assessing you through your profile see that you’re an active, savvy LinkedIn user and check out your groups activities.
• Join and begin giving value by commenting on existing discussions and starting your own.
• Post relevant news items that will be of interest to members. Better yet, add your own blog posts to broadcast your personal brand and value proposition.
• Respond to group members who need help.
• Hang out with key decision makers at your target companies and others by joining groups they belong to. Find their groups by scrolling down their profiles to see which ones they belong to.
• Join affinity groups for your companies, industry and areas of expertise.
• Think about starting your own LinkedIn Group.
• Join groups where you can learn from personal branding and job search experts. Here are some of my favorites for these topics:

Job-Hunt.org runs 6 (and growing) “Help” Groups, the Job-Hunt Help main group and 5 subgroups (social media, boomers and beyond, help for veterans, help for introverts, and personal branding), which you’ll find in the “Subgroups” drop-down menu on the main group page.

I manage the personal branding subgroup. Come join us!

Other excellent groups I belong to:

• Darren Rowse’s Professional Bloggers
• Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Network
• Tim Tyrell Smith’s Ideas For Job Search, Career And Life and his Career Experts Subgroup
• Alison Doyle’s About.com Job Searching
• Kate Lorington’s Jobs & Career Network
• Michael Quale’s Job Shouts

Aside from connecting with people at the companies you’re targeting, you’ll link with, learn from, and give value to new communities of thought leaders and SMEs you never would have known otherwise.

Related posts:

My free e-book, Executive Branding and Your LinkedIn Profile: How to Transform Your Executive Brand, Resume, and Career Biography Into a Winning LinkedIn Profile

Stalled Executive Job Search? Get Busy on LinkedIn and Twitter

YIKES! My LinkedIn Profile is Missing!