“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”―Benjamin Franklin

Companies and organizations that offer extensive training programs garnered 218% higher income compared to those that do not implement continuous professional development. 

In addition, companies with formalized training possessed 24% higher profit than those who invest less in it. Furthermore, statistics show that 94% of employees admit that they intend to stay longer in companies that have plans for professional development. 

LinkedIn offers vast opportunities as a business-to-business (B2B) networking channel for professionals. This multifunctional online platform serves as a convenient avenue to share your company’s best practices and promote your company’s interest to potential clients and recruits. 

This is the leading online learning platform specializing in business, technology, and creative skills among other important skills that enable people to reach their professional goals.

Listed below are ways you can best benefit from LinkedIn for skills development.

Create and Post Regular Content on Your LinkedIn Profile

Based on a study conducted by Onalytica it says that those social media influencers who posted more than 50 times a month on LinkedIn gained an average of 26 engagements per post however those who posted 30-50 times a month amazingly garnered 56 engagements. 

It is safe to conclude that consistent posting produces greater engagements however too much posting is overkill and creates counterproductive effects on your social media presence. 

The type of content also helps in developing your personal brand. It creates a positive impact on your image. Since LinkedIn is a professional website you might want to post blogs and quick tips which discuss topics about leadership, productivity, efficiency, support, success, and other related stuff. 

Company updates are also effective in augmenting your personal presence. Reflecting on your business goals improves your branding so you might want to include this information in your posts. This adds value to your business in the industry you belong to. Furthermore do not neglect to engage with interested people who comment on your posts. 

Aside from these considerations, the length of your content plays a very significant role in the number of engagements you’ll acquire. The study shows that between 1900 and 2000 words in length perform best in terms of responses manifested in the number of views, comments, and shares.

Also, starting your titles in “how-to”, addressing the most frequently asked questions in your industry is a big plus in getting the attention of your audience. Making a list-style post not only gets attention but also depicts how informative your posts are to your target audience. 

Look for More Connections

Using LinkedIn in expanding your engagements and connections takes a different level of techniques and strategies in reaching your targets or goals.

Since LinkedIn is primarily created to be maximized for business and professional functions, you will need to use several means to fully enjoy its benefits or impact on your every activity and outreaches. Here are the best methods that have proven to boost engagement on LinkedIn:

• Share freely pre-made templates, worksheets, and other helpful operating procedures.
• Establish relationships with your audience through a personalized and meaningful experience.
• Initiate initial contact through comments and engagements
• Promote your content by uploading your videos and personal pictures which boosts authenticity and credibility.
• Content must focus on the educational and scientific approach while also promoting other people’s content.
• Welcome contributions from others in a way that expresses respect for their insights and thoughts. 

Engage With Others in Your Network

Identify frequent audiences and send invitations to encourage them to impart their ideas related to their area of expertise in your upcoming content. Creating personalized LinkedIn invitations is more likely to produce a positive response from your audience. Stating clearly the reasons why it is perfect to have them respond to your invitation gives you leverage to stand out. 

Other ways include involving LinkedIn Groups. This will automatically provide you with a support group that you can directly share and engage with your content and other related topics. In this way, you and others can mutually grow in your field of expertise while narrowing your learning gaps in your area of weakness. 

Linked Groups offer wide and surprising opportunities to connect and collaborate with people with whom you can share your interests, backgrounds, industry, goals, and other significant possible activities and commonalities.   

Aside from joining LinkedIn Groups, maximizing your business page through profile alignment and segmentation will encourage numerous followers as it supplies images, contents, buttons, and links to be thoroughly engaged with your business. 

Displaying your strengths through your business page is a good way to showcase your potential however showing vulnerability increases credibility and also boosts engagements from your audience. This is because the greatest lessons one can learn are through weaknesses and failures. The way to become effective in reaching out to others is to bravely reveal your flaws and how you have overcome such failures and mistakes. Vulnerability breeds authenticity. 

Furthermore, prioritize following up with your previous connections. Asking specific questions based on the previous engagement, discussing your new learnings from their company’s best practices and other related topics are good ways to pick up where you have started. A study (Hubspot) shows that 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. 

Lastly, express gratitude for other peoples’ endorsement. A brief statement of gratitude would do. Another way of expressing your gratitude is through recommendations that are helpful to them. Stating why the suggested content is helpful to them will enhance understanding and generate engagement. Suggestions are essential in first impressions since they will provide them with information that will gauge credibility and reliability. 

Subscribe to LinkedIn’s Learning Blog

LinkedIn is full of varied courses which are entirely useful in different industry and professional endeavors you are in so do not forget to subscribe to LinkedIn’s Learning Blog.

In-demand and trending skills are also offered in these learning blogs. This LinkedIn integration is useful especially in the beginning part where you are still gathering information as to the course you’ll take.

This will provide you with the most trending course, the indirect orientation of courses (since you will be exposed to the different experiences of other professionals), and important tips that will help you to attain new and greater heights in your career. 

Nevertheless, LinkedIn Blog is completely helpful in assisting you all the way of your professional development not only at the beginning of your professional journey. LinkedIn learning blogs are filled with fresh ideas, updated studies and statistics, and insights that come from varied fields of experts. 

Check Out Learning Resources

LinkedIn Learning is also an online platform that provides a multitude of lessons, training sessions, classes, lectures, and many more through its Learning Resources. 

Aside from educational blogs, learning materials that provide practical tips, insights based on substantial experiences, studies, and other reliable sources, and most importantly best practices from diverse types of industries available They also suggest doable and in-depth advice on how to respond in view of your company or professional goals during this time of the pandemic. 

LinkedIn Learning offers access to more than 13,000 high-quality on-demand courses. This will greatly assist you in your professional development as it will provide suggestions based on unique, data-driven insights from millions of experts and professionals in their designated field and industry worldwide. 

This on-demand online library is full of instructional videos that allow you to achieve your utmost potential through the means of personalized courses recommendations specifically designed for your consumption. Not to mention the added convenience as you can complete the course at your own phase. Content is very accessible since it is available on your computer or even on your own mobile device. 

Join the LinkedIn Learning Course Club

The Learning Course Club focuses on teaching you the current and most in-demand skills. On-demand courses in LinkedIn Course Club helps in preparing individuals for professional certification exams and continuous professional development. LinkedIn Learning Course is trusted by 78% of the Fortune 100 companies. This tool enables the subscribers to fill skills gaps that are primarily needed especially during this time. 

Aside from the benefit of reskilling employees, specific learning topics such as business software technology, the essence of communication, managing conflict, and other leadership skills are being addressed and thoroughly taught through different courses conveniently laid out. 

Significant applications or software, programming languages, platform coverage, and IT methodologies, and other in-demand skills are also included in the learning courses. This learning course covers the largest collection of tools and skills like CAD (Computer-Aided Design), graphic design, photography, music, literature, engineering, construction, etc. 

Moreover, there are free LinkedIn courses. Free content can be obtained through your news and updates or it could be in a form of a customized proposed course under a training program. Another option to view free course content is through your profile page in the “add new skills with these courses, free for 24 hours” column or a section. 

However, the best way to acquire a total package for learning new skills is through joining LinkedIn Learning Course Club. The Course Club specifically aids you and your team to hone and develop the most significant skills you need to thrive and excel.