We’re rising in the work hierarchy, we’re breaking glass ceilings all over the world. We’re leaning in, we’re leaning out.

Some of us, anyway.

The reality is, as a gender, we’re still not as comfortable shouting our genius to the world as our male counterparts are. Ladies, we’re losing business because of this.

 

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The Facts:

  • LinkedIn has over 225 million registered members and 77 million of those make their home in the U.S.
  • It takes at least 36 thousand 1st degree connections to crack the top 10 most connected on LinkedIn.
  • Only 5 women are in the top 100, 2 are in the top 10, and 4 are in the top 20.

Speaking as a woman here, I know we are often not as comfortable at promoting ourselves, asking for testimonials/recommendations, as well as receiving praise. Believe me I know it can be difficult, this is why I loved LinkedIn. This platform makes it so much easier for us to step into our power, to claim our expert status, and promote our business genius with personal branding.

What the most connected woman on LinkedIn has that you can have too:

  • A fully fleshed out profile with an attention grabbing headline noting exactly what and who she is. At a quick glance we know if we would want to hire her, sell to her, be her friend, and why
  • Her summary is clean, easy to follow, highlighting relevant numbers for her field (e.g. 23K+ Twitter followers), relevant experience and where to find her
  • There are visuals: photos and links to articles and websites that again highlight her expert status
  • Specialties section is being used so we know exactly what she feels she is best at
  • Experience sections are chock full and engagingly written in first person with enthusiasm – notice the titles – very specific – again we know her expertise
  • Recommendations section is active – she has 25 which is not an unreachable number for the rest of us
  • Her awards and honors section is full and again establishes herself as an expert in social media, recruiting and connecting, with links to appropriate articles to back it up
  • As a speaker she lists her 2013 schedule – we can ALL list classes and conferences attended to pack in credibility in our own way
  • Her endorsements are plentiful – endorse 5 people a day each time you are working in LinkedIn and you will be surprised how fast your own list grows
  • Advice for Contact section is very clear – she wears multiple hats – which most of us do – and the well thought out, as well as personal, contact section shows anyone easily: how and where and why to get a hold of her
  • She shows interest in volunteering and causes which helps us know she is a real person
  • She is a member of multiple groups (37 or more) and while we don’t need to be as prolific even a handful of groups rounds out the profile picture of who you are and why you are here

You CAN be influential with a small number of connections, but the most influential of all have large networks and one of the easiest places to build yours is LinkedIn. Think of it as a virtual trade show or conference where you make real live connections.

Having a larger network enables you to show up in searches of people you might otherwise never have met! So claim your power, spruce up your profile, and let your genius shine! Then slowly build the network you deserve.

Here are some tips to get you started.

Don’t forget to connect with me, www.linkedin.com/in/karenyankovich.

So rock it ladies! What one action will you take today to shine your genius on LinkedIn?

Any questions you can find me here. I’m with you every step of the way!

Photo Credit: Dell’s Official Flickr Page