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Online networking is opening vast new opportunities for savvy users to find jobs, business opportunities and partners, clients, friends, people with common interests, and even romance. But it pays to learn how to attract interest.

This article will focus on creating a profile for LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), a popular, business-oriented social networking site,* but the principles apply elsewhere. LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool, especially if you make full use of it. Here are just a few tips to help you create a powerful profile.

When you join LinkedIn, you are asked to create a profile about yourself. A great profile that expresses the way you’d like to be known is your key to online networking success. Many people spend hours and hours perfecting their resumes, but only a few minutes creating their online profile. They squander many networking possibilities. Your profile should do two things well:

>Include information that will help people find you using the search engine, and,
>once found, ensure that you make a favorable impression.

Here are a few tips about what to include.

*Job History*
Start, but don’t stop, with the obvious: list your employers, job titles, and schools, being sure to include both abbreviations and their full names, as people may search for either the “University of Southern California” or “USC” or for “Kentucky Fried Chicken” or “KFC.”

*Certifications,* such as (Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), Six Sigma Green Belt

*Special skills:* Software knowledge, supply chain management, fluency in foreign languages, managing payroll, massage therapy, grant writing

*Accomplishments:* Include results you have produced, awards won, much as you would (hopefully) include in your resume. Remember, you are not as constricted by space and style considerations as on a resume. Feel free to use complete sentences and a conversational tone. Still, we Internet readers are notoriously impatient, get-to-the-point types, so be concise. Be sure to carefully proofread your content.

Note: if you have trouble coming up with accomplishment and results, send a note to us at Careersinc@aol.com, and we’ll email you a guide to help with identifying accomplishments.

*Keywords/jargon from your field:* This overlaps somewhat with things we’ve already discussed, but this can include: technological terms and descriptions of technical expertise, hardware and software proficiency, job titles, certifications, names of products and services, industry buzzwords, degrees, company names, impressive names like “Fortune 500,” area code for narrowing down searches geographically, and names of professional organizations.

*Interests and hobbies:* Depending on your purpose for creating the profile, you might also include things like skydiving, bicycling, chess, and acting in community theater.

*Religion and Politics:* Including this information is, of course, a two-edged sword. Saying you are an Evangelical Christian or the Chair of the local Republican Party can help or hurt you, depending on who views your profile. Carefully consider before including.

*Link to your website*
If you have a website, provide a link to it, especially if it has samples of your work.

*Recommendations*
Solict recommendations from past bosses, co-workers, clients and others who know you and your work. Hearing others sing your praises adds credibility to what you say about yourself. A warm recommendation from a customer can create a very positive and reassuring impression on someone considering using your services.

An added bonus is that on your home page, you may have noticed that occasionally, a message will appear saying, for example: John Smith (from your network) has recommended Jane Doe, graphic designer. When someone recommends you, this recommendation will pop up on other people’s screens. Just as Jane Doe may benefit from this exposure, you too can create new opportunities for yourself by getting recommended.

There’s lots more to say about LinkedIn and other similar social networking sites, but a great profile is an important step in successful online networking.

*Social networking sites allow you to create a presence for yourself on a website, allowing people to find us. We create and network by linking ourselves to other people, and others can see who we have in our network, thereby enhancing the networking experience. Besides linkedin, social networking sites include OpenBC (www.openbc.com), Soflow (www.soflow.com), ecademy (www.ecademy.com), Ryze (www.ryze.com), and Facebook (www.facebook.com).