How LinkedIn Answers may help you to enhance your reputation

On your own website, factors such as the web design help to distinguish you from your competition. But on LinkedIn, it is features like Answers which help you to stand out from the rest.

Here are some of the ways that you may use Answers to enhance your reputation:

• one of the most important things to remember about answering questions posed by the LinkedIn community is that it builds trust. When people begin to see that you are happy to share your expertise and knowledge, they may start to see you as a company they can trust, and this is a very important part of forging valuable contacts;

• answering questions with clarity and detail demonstrates your expertise. Other people may see that you are an expert in your area because of the knowledge you display in your answers, and this may help to enhance your reputation in the community;

• by answering lots of questions in a particular area, your reputation may grow and other users may begin to seek out your guidance. When you help them, the word may spread even further, and you may see that more people begin to seek you out for help and advice;

• answering questions on a regular basis enables you to build up points when you get voted for providing the best answer. This goes even further in showing other uses of LinkedIn that you really know your area;

• as you steadily start to increase the number of points you have, you may also begin to increase your exposure. The more points you have, the higher up you may start to appear on lists when people conduct searches within the site, and this may make you easier to find so that you end up growing your network as a result;

• perhaps the most important feature of all when it comes to using the Answers feature is that it enables you to become a valued member of the community. On any social network, being an active and helpful user is the way to build up a larger network of contacts, but on LinkedIn it is even more important. Answering questions shows that you are serious about getting involved in the community, and this may help you to attract even more followers.