Get More From Your LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups are powerful and a LinkedIn feature that sets them apart from the other social media sites.  Groups can be a great source of information for almost any subject, and can help you expand your network with other professionals in the same ministry.  You can build credibility and trust with well known ministry leaders and your target contacts (those you would like to be connected to).

The Minimum You Need To Do:

Joining Groups – Join a few groups in your specific ministry, a few general Christian and Pastor groups, a few in your personal interests, and a few in your geographic area.

Participating in Groups – Participate in the groups you’ve joined by starting or commenting on discussions, read the new discussions, look at the profiles of those who submit comments you admire (learn who you might want to connect with), and communicate with the group manager about how you can help, or the benefits you receive from the group.  Also consider sending a recommendation to the group manager or the members who bring value to the group.

Email Updates – Joining a group generally means you will want to receive an email update about new discussions (otherwise you have to check them often).  You can set your email updates to daily or weekly (open the group, click on “More..” in the group menu bar, click on “My Settings”, and select the Delivery Frequency to “Daily” or “Weekly” in the drop down box. 

You can also select to receive an email for each new discussion (caution, that may be often), and you can choose whether to allow the group manager or members to send you messages through the group. 

While you are in My Settings, be sure your email address is current.

 

NEW – You can now choose your own preferred view of LinkedIn Group discussions!

LinkedIn has just added a new option to change the way your LinkedIn Group homepage displays discussions.  You can now choose between the following views:

1.  “What’s Happening“, the familiar default view – with the content sorted by what’s Most Popular at the moment and the carousel of up to 20 new items at the top of the list.
2.  “Latest Discussions“, the new Latest Discussions view that gives the most active members the newest postings.

Those two options are made by clicking on the drop down arrow just after “What’s Happening” and the red “New” box directly under your photo on your LinkedIn Group home page.

You can still click on “Search” in the Group menu bar for a compressed view of discussions.

If you are serious about “extending your reach into the kingdom” you must develop your expertise in LinkedIn groups.  Spend some time searching for groups that might benefit you (you can always drop out if they don’t fit your needs), and spend some time learning how the groups operate and participating in the groups.

 If your ministry might benefit from having your own LinkedIn group, look for a future article about how to start, promote, and use them.

 

As always, thank you for reading Linked4Ministry.  If you are new here, the best way to receive all the new posts is to subscribe for e-mail updates at the top right.  If you have been following Linked4Ministry and find it helpful, please consider sharing it with other ministry partners that it could benefit.  It’s easy to do by clicking on the following buttons, and it’s OK to click more than one !

 

Blessings,
Bill Bender
Linked4Ministry & Anothen Life Ministries