Power Your Executive Brand with LinkedIn Groups - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Power Your Executive Brand with Groups Youve worked hard on  getting your branded, searchable, 100% complete profile up and humming. Whats next? One of s most powerful networking features thats bringing great value to me is Groups. For executive job search, Groups can be invaluable for communicating your personal brand and unique promise of value to potential employers. According to the Learning Center: Groups is your destination to find and join communities of professionals based on common interest, experience, affiliation, and goals. Stay in touch with organizations, schools, and companies that you are and were a part of, network with professionals with similar interests and goals, and collaborate in a professional community online. Groups allows group organizations to extend their brand’s reach and strengthen the brand with existing users by providing additional value through ’s features. I land new business because of  my participation with Groups. You may land your next gig through your participation with Groups. Groups are a terrific way to: Hobnob with and  express your executive brand directly to key decision makers at your target companies or organizations, Position yourself as  an industry thought leader and subject matter expert, Build a strong executive network with new faces, Give value, help  your network,  and thereby build trust and brand equity, and LEARN. Getting started: Search Groups in the Groups Directory. Choose from the Categories drop-down menu: Alumni Corporate Conference Networking Non-profit Professional Or search groups by company name, industry and relevant keywords in the search bar at the top right of any page (click the drop-down menu for Groups). Some groups are open to all and allow instant membership. For others, you may be subject to review by the group manager. When you join, elect to display the group logo on your profile. This is a good way to let people who are assessing you through your profile see that youre an active, savvy user and check out your groups activities. Join and begin giving value by commenting on existing discussions and starting your own. Post relevant news items that will be of interest to members. Better yet, add your own blog posts to broadcast your personal brand and value proposition. Respond to group members who need help. Hang out with key decision makers at your target companies and others by joining groups they belong to. Find their groups by scrolling down their profiles to see which ones they belong to. Join affinity groups for your companies, industry and areas of expertise. Think about starting your own Group. Join groups where you can learn from personal branding and job search experts. Here are some of my favorites for these topics: Job-Hunt.org runs 6 (and growing) Help Groups, the  Job-Hunt Help main group  and  5 subgroups (social media, boomers and beyond, help for veterans, help for introverts, and personal branding), which youll find in the Subgroups drop-down menu on the main group  page. I manage the personal branding  subgroup. Come join us! Other excellent groups I belong to: Darren Rowses Professional Bloggers Dan Schawbels Personal Branding Network Tim Tyrell Smiths Ideas For Job Search, Career And Life  and his Career Experts Subgroup Alison Doyles About.com Job Searching Kate Loringtons Jobs Career Network Michael Quales Job Shouts Aside from connecting with people at the companies youre targeting, youll link with, learn from, and give value to new communities of thought leaders and SMEs you never would have known otherwise. Related posts: My free e-book, Executive Branding and Your Profile: How to Transform Your Executive Brand, Resume, and Career Biography Into a Winning Profile Stalled Executive Job Search? Get Busy on and Twitter YIKES! My Profile is Missing! 00 0