Haven't logged into LinkedIn lately? 5 reasons you really should be using it

How much do you know about LinkedIn? Sure, you probably understand it’s a social network for professionals, but it’s so much more.

Unlike most social networks that are used to share the latest vacation pictures, LinkedIn was designed for more important reasons. It can help you make connections, share work experience and find or post jobs.

Your LinkedIn profile can be set up to look like a resume, complete with accomplishments and referrals from colleagues. If you’ve never experienced the power of LinkedIn, we can help. Here are five smart ways to use LinkedIn to network, poach employees, boast and more.

Visit LinkedIn.com/Kim and post a job for free.

1. Sales prospecting

If you’re wondering what sales prospecting is, it’s exactly what it sounds like — sorting through tons of companies and individuals to find prospects who will most likely turn into paying customers.

This can take a lot of time and effort and relies on knowing where to look. In the past, sales prospecting mainly consisted of cold calling and following up with every potential lead.

Now that we live in a digital world, those days are gone. Most buyers make decisions online. That’s where LinkedIn comes into play.

With about 1 billion members, LinkedIn is a leader in connecting buyers and sellers. One of the most important sales techniques is understanding how buyers behave, making prospecting easier with greater success.

An IDC social buying study revealed:

  • 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make buying decisions.
  • 50% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn to make purchasing decisions.
  • 76% of B2B buyers prefer to work with recommendations from their professional network.

Those numbers prove how important LinkedIn is when it comes to sales prospecting. Information is power and LinkedIn is packed with information buyers are looking for.

Continue reading

Precious memory and document organizers

These are solid, practical picks:

  • A fireproof storage box (10% off) is a wise investment if you have lots of hard-copy photos.
  • This fireproof, waterproof organizer is the right way to store important docs like your passport and birth certificate.
  • Show off your favorite 4-by-6-inch pics in a beautiful hardcover photo book (25% off).
  • USB flash drives are good backups for digital pictures and documents. Just don’t misplace them, please.
  • This smart digital photo frame (50% off) lets you share photos with anyone from anywhere right through the app.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

🐱💤 = Catnap: Most think this smiley-faced emoji — 🙂 — is the digital equivalent of a fake smile. Don’t use it. Instead, pick something happier. I like 🤗, 🥰 and 😃. But lately, it’s hard to beat the 🫶.

Google’s deleting inactive Gmail accounts

Open/download audio

Don’t let your digital life vanish! Many tech companies are deleting profiles, and you could lose everything. Here’s why. 

🧱 Keep calm and Lego on: Lego wanted to ditch paper instructions and go all digital, hoping to play their part in building a sustainable future. Fans said, “No way,” so paper instructions aren’t going anywhere … for now. Gift idea: If you haven’t seen the Lego sets for adults, these are amazing. I gifted some last year and everyone loved them.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Trivia

The first banner ad on a website appeared in 1994. Was it for … A.) AOL, B.) Apple, C.) AT&T or D.) Intel?

Find the answer here!

Amazon’s (digital) clearance aisle

It’s called Amazon Outlet and it’s packed with good deals. Here’s a page that displays them all. Below are a few that caught my eye:

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Sponsored results: AI chatbot Perplexity is tapping into the billion-dollar digital ad industry. Brands will bid for a “sponsored” question featuring an AI-generated answer that will include them. Marketers will pay $50 or more for every 1,000 impressions generated by these posts (paywall link). A $50 CPM (cost per thousand) is really high for this.

The estates of long-gone celebrities are raking in money: It’s not just voice cloning, like Judy Garland reading “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (paywall link). Using old footage and the right AI, Hollywood can create digital models that look, sound and move just like the real person. Even concerts with de-aged virtual avatars like ABBA Voyage pull in over $2 million a week. They’re alive, but you get the point.

A remote you won’t lose: The latest OS for the Apple Watch, watchOS 11, got a snazzy upgrade people who lose the TV remote often are sure to love. With watchOS 11, you can turn the Digital Crown on your smartwatch to control the volume, and you can tap the three-dot menu button to mute or unmute and power your Apple TV on or off.

How tech saved lives in Georgia school shooting

Open/download audio

A tragic shooting at Apalachee High in Winder, Georgia, left four dead and nine injured. It may have been worse without a new safety system — teachers used a digital panic button to save lives. Plus, Amazon Alexa loses billions, Taylor Swift surveillance, and FB censors opinions.

Identity crisis: You can prime ChatGPT or any other chatbot to answer how you want with one simple phrase: “You are a …” and then fill in that blank with anything — “marketing expert,” “lawyer,” “landlord attorney,” “master gardener,” “personal trainer.” Go ahead, try “Digital Goddess.”

Suite dreams: Next time you check into a hotel, don’t be surprised if there are no keycards. Digital options using Apple Wallet and Google Wallet are soaring. Just tap your phone near the door handle to get in. Earlier this year, hackers cracked over 3 million hotel rooms with Saflok locks, so I’m all for this.

🗣️ Alexa’s makeover is going to cost you: This is interesting. Amazon’s in-house Alexa AI software struggled, sometimes taking seven seconds (a digital lifetime) to reply. Now, they’re using Anthropic’s Claude AI. Amazon invested $4 billion in Anthropic. A smarter Alexa is coming in October, costing $5 to $10 a month.

Digital piggy bank: Venmo has accounts for teens ages 13 to 17. The best part? Parental controls. You can keep an eye on where their money’s going and how they’re spending it.

It’ll only get worse: More companies than just Uber are now on the surge-pricing bandwagon. Wendy’s announced AI-powered digital menus (then walked it back), and Kroger’s got digital price tags that can change grocery prices in real time. They say it’s to lower prices during peak hours. Start by discounting items close to expiration dates, and I might believe it.

Turn your vinyl into digital: It’s a nice way to preserve your vintage music collection. You’ll need a USB turntable. It’s not super cheap, but neither were all those records … For the record, a person born in ‘33 was 45 in ‘78.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

You’re SOL … if you bought movies through Redbox. The company filed for bankruptcy, closed down the big red kiosks, and now the app is gone, too. This is your friendly reminder that when you buy digital content, you’re buying the right to watch for now.

🖥️ Pricey pixels: Get your hands on a rare piece of digital art by Andy Warhol … for a cool $26 million. The portrait of Blondie’s Debbie Harry was made on a 1985 Commodore Amiga 1000 computer. Only two copies are believed to exist. NFTs from restored Amiga images sold for $3.38 million back in 2021.

😲 Stick to legitimate banks: Thousands of folks who put money into the Juno savings app are screwed. The company that provided Juno’s digital transaction ledgers collapsed, and no one can access their funds. One guy lost $38,000. Keep your savings in an FDIC-backed bank and those account balances under $250,000.