By Ralene Burke

The perks of Facebook and Twitter are finding potential individual clients and keeping current ones engaged. However, they don’t offer much in the way of helping the business professional display individual skills and past work experience—which is why the third social media platform great for editors is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn allows editors to do two things:
1. Network with businesses and individuals who are looking for editors.
2. Keep an online resume/portfolio where they can refer clients.

Network:

Like most social networks, LinkedIn allows you to join groups, message people, share statuses, and follow others. The more active you are, the bigger your platform will grow.

LinkedIn allows its members to endorse each other to give more credence to their resume. So, if you’ve worked with someone or you have been following them for a while, you can help them out by endorsing them in their area of expertise (writing, editing, social media, etc.).

As a little perk, businesses can post job ads!

Online Resume:

When we apply for jobs in the physical world, an application and resume are often involved. LinkedIn is the place to keep that resume online! It has plenty of areas to fill in all necessary information from job skills, to past employment, to education.

Members also get to create a tagline for themselves and post a photo.

Tips:

1. Keep your profile up-to-date.
2. Be specific in your skills and expertise.
3. If you have a professional blog, connect it to your LinkedIn profile.
4. While this isn’t a network you need to log on to every day, try to get on once a week to process requests and respond to e-mails (or delete them).

If you do your best to always be professional and active, LinkedIn can be a great place to find some work and make some connections.

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Whether she’s wielding a fantasy writer’s pen or a freelance editor’s sword, Ralene Burke always has her head in some dreamer’s world. And her goal is to make it SHINE! She has worked for a variety of groups/companies, including Realm Makers, The Christian PEN, and as an editor for a number of freelance clients. Her first novel, Bellanok, is being published as a 4-part serial.

She is wife to a veteran and homeschooling mama to their three kids. Her Pinterest board would have you believe she is a master chef, excellent seamstress, and all-around crafty diva. If she only had the time …

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, or at her website.