Today’s theme and fun title – “LinkedIn lurv for the ladies” – with 7 great reasons why you need to get on board sooner rather than later.

And no, despite the title, this is not a sleazy post, but once again designed to help you get all your career and consulting tools lined up and pointed in the right direction.

And the same goes for anyone with C-suite aspirations.

If you¹re like most, you set up a LinkedIn account at some point in the mid-late 2000s, then promptly forgot about it. Maybe you gussied it up a little with your last job change, or you leave it to your Executive Assistant to manage, but most people are totally underestimating things and quite simply, leaving money and opportunity on the table.

Five typical LinkedIn profile brands

Typical profile brands include:

1. The Near Enough is Good Enough – your profile pic is a selfie, or a glamour shot, or it looks like you cut your significant other out of the photo in a rush

2. The Loser – you have less than 100 connections and have never heard of the 500+ connections unwritten ground rule

3. Behind the Times – you think of your profile purely as an online CV and not even a very good one at that

4. The Cheer Squad – you limit your involvement to random ‘thumbs up’ and ‘great article’ comments, or

5. The Stalker – you passively read articles and view profiles in the background, maybe even with your identify hidden.

If you identified with any of the above categories then you are definitely missing out.

Success stories

Just this month two of my clients created dream role opportunities with decision makers by proactive emailing in LinkedIn.

Last month one of my clients landed a role as CEO of a conglomerate group which started with an introduction via LinkedIn.

And last week I was tallying the overseas speaking opportunities that had come to me via LinkedIn and just supposing I accepted them all, I could buy an around the world ticket with invitations to speak in Japan, India, USA, Canada, UK, Singapore and New Zealand. All via LinkedIn.

Critically for my clients, their profiles set them up for success before they even reached out to ask for meetings – with their future leadership brand front and centre.

Facts you need to know

• Fact 1: LinkedIn is the world¹s largest and most powerful social network for professionals.

• Fact 2: It has 500+ million members in 200 countries, and two new members join each second.

• Fact 3: LinkedIn is also taking the job seeking world by storm enabling companies and candidates to connect directly.

• Fact 4: For consultants it¹s acknowledged as the best, easiest and most effective place online to find new clients.

• Fact 5: Microsoft recently bought LinkedIn and are investing heavily so it’s only going to become more powerful moving forward.

• Fact 6: LinkedIn remains the biggest on-ramp for CEOs and C-suite execs to get onboard with social media (2016 Social CEO Report)

• Fact 7: However, data demonstrates that men are confidently and visibly dominating the platform and women are missing the boat yet again. And we can’t blame anyone for this but ourselves for this.

So what can executive women do?

Learn to love LinkedIn. And if you can’t love it, learn to leverage it smartly. Take advantage of the significant networking and positioning benefits the platform provides.

Late to the party doesn’t mean all is lost. In fact, if you’re really only getting going now, you won’t be dealing with all the confusion of recent platform changes after the Microsoft takeover.

Yes, gender bias, socialization and stereotypes have some part to play, but we need to step up into this new medium and regain ground. And because women have a tendency to underestimate and downplay their own strengths and future performance – your own profile should make you feel a bit intimidated (FIGJAMLP).

Quite simply, it’s not too late. Learn the rules, get comfortable with the platform and then strategically and skillfully navigate between the flags of bias and perception to sell brand you.

After all, if this is where it’s all going to be happening in the future, then you need to get on board before it’s too late.

Why? Because business, community and government needs smart ‘n savvy women leading.

Feminine Leadership Super Powers + LinkedIn Strategy = Priceless

Plus, you’re worth it.

Vive la révolution!  

#ambitionrevolution #feminineambition #executivebrand