When you are invited to present LinkedIn at an in-person networking event, and it’s your day to babysit your grandson, you pack an iPad and dinosaurs!

Yep! The little 2-year-old dude front and center is JJ, and he was a delightful companion at the Next Level Networking (for women) event this week. Thank goodness french fries were on the menu! It’s a vegetable, right?

Next Level Networkings’ Facebook group is private to members. They just formed in December 2022, so you can email NextLevelForWomen@gmail.com if you are local and want to learn more.

Women came to network from Chester County, surroundings counties, Delaware, and Maryland. What I loved about this group was that everyone got to introduce themselves, and that’s my kind of networking!

We got to hear special personal wishes for Valentine’s Day too. Not only did we hear about vacation desires, but also a wish for new bras, and an attendee’s stage three cancer to “go away.”

The wishes brought up many emotions, as you can well imagine.

Since I did not have a long time to speak, I shared some tips and actionable items. One suggestion was to create a colorful banner to build your personal brand and be memorable.

Another tip was boosting your LinkedIn headline score with keywords and a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). You have up to 220 characters for your headline, so create verbiage that will stand out.

I explained how keywords were essential on LinkedIn think like Google.

Would you go to the Google search engine and type in Founder/Owner of ABC Company, or would you type website designer, Realtor, mortgage lender, monogrammer, etc.? You would type in the keyword, of course.

Your LinkedIn headline should not be your title and your company name. You would type keywords to find products or services on Google, and the same goes for LinkedIn.

My biggest disappointment was that the LinkedIn Find Nearby feature was not available. LinkedIn eliminated that feature during the pandemic, and it is still unavailable.

People are starting to return to in-person networking events, so it’s time for Linked In to bring the Find Nearby feature back.

If we had the Find Nearby feature available on our mobile devices, all 30 women in the room could have connected on LinkedIn. So, if you want to Tweet @LinkedInHelp, you can ask when they will resurrect this feature.

In the meantime, you will have to exchange business cards and include your customized LinkedIn URL and/or a QR code.

Happy networking, everyone! Whether you are networking in person or on Zoom (or equivalent), connect on LinkedIn and build your network.

Want to learn more about LinkedIn? Register for free upcoming online workshops.

In case you missed it, last week’s article was Seize the Power of LinkedIn to Land the Internship of Your Dreams.

NEXT STEPS

• Subscribe to my newsletter on LinkedIn for bright ideas to manage your career.

• Join as a member at https://greatcareers.org/membership of the #1 business networking association on the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Book of Lists three years in a row!

• Register on the events page for these upcoming online events.

• If you need a resume or LinkedIn profile to get you to your next step, book a call to chat!

• Follow #GreatCareersPHL

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WEEKLY EVENTS

• Fri Feb 10 – Interview Techniques
• Sat Feb 11 – KLT AIR Your Networking North Stars (register by noon Fri)
• Tues Feb 14 – Design Your Career from the Inside Out: Managing Uncertainty & Creating Meaning
• Wed Feb 15 – PowerThinking: Rejuvenating Your Amazing Mind Weekly Resilience Building Call-In
• Wed Feb 15 – Business Executives Networking Group (BENG)
• Thurs Feb 16 – Recruiter on Call with Jobs
• Thurs Feb 16 – Value Proposition Letters: A Think Tank
• Fri Feb 17 – Interview Techniques
• Sat Feb 18 – LinkedIn Part 3 of 3