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.

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If your house is on the market: Take a good look at what’s posted online. One study reviewed 44 virtual tours, and every single home had at least one piece of private information — a diploma, a photo, a letter — on display. Steps here to remove photos from the major real estate sites.

Confirmed: iPads make your kids misbehave

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Do you hand over the tablet when your kid throws a fit? A new study says you’re not just rewarding bad behavior — you’re actually making it worse.

🤖 Thought leader or bot leader? You know all those LinkedIn posts sharing tips to maximize your #grindset? Yep, most of them — 54%, to be exact — are AI-generated. A study found these posts are getting longer, too, with their word counts jumping an average of 107% since ChatGPT arrived. No wonder our eyes glaze over while reading them.

Trivia

What human-made object is the farthest from Earth right now? Is it … A.) The International Space Station, B.) The Hubble Space Telescope, C.) Voyager 1 or D.) The Mars Rover?

Find the answer here!

No. 2 most-prescribed drug

For older adults is linked to bone loss. A whopping 23 million Americans take Levothyroxine. A Johns Hopkins Medicine study found it may lead to osteoporosis. Chat with your doc if you take this medication and ask what you can do.

📧 “Email apnea”: That’s a new term for the moment when you open your inbox, get overwhelmed by all the messages and unknowingly hold your breath to focus. A study found 80% of us do this. The fix is simple: Breathe naturally and take screen time breaks.

Banks are very loanly: A new study proves what we all know: In-person banking is on its way out, and the number of physical branches is dwindling. Since 2018, an average of 1,646 branches have closed annually in the U.S. At this rate, physical branches could be extinct by 2041.

Trivia

What’s the name of the asteroid that’s going to fly pretty close to Earth in 2029? Is it … A.) Apophis, B.) Halley, C.) Kimster or D.) Eros? Make your best guess, and bonus points if you also know how many miles above Earth it’ll be.

Find the answer here!

75% memory boost

For older folks who mixed up their mental exercises. Just like with food, a “diet” of only a couple of things is less effective than a diet with a variety of foods. This study used different exercises for working memory — aka our ability to remember information while performing other tasks.

17% worse

Test results for kids who used AI as a study assistant. Students were split into three groups: One working through practice problems on their own, one using ChatGPT and one in which ChatGPT worked like a tutor. The kids who used AI all scored worse on their exams, likely because they used the bot as a crutch instead of truly learning.

⛳️ No ifs, ands or putts: A study found checking your phone for work-related tasks while playing golf hurts your game performance. Why? It’s called “attention residue,” or when you keep thinking about something long after putting your phone away. If you’re using your phone for distance measurements, pick up a rangefinder instead.

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No Waze! Navigation apps are turning men into worse drivers. A study shows female voice assistants trigger mating-related cues, like risky behavior. Seriously, 40% of men in the experiment were more likely to run a yellow light. Switch to a male voice, dudes.

50% of U.S. cancer deaths 

Are avoidable. A new study shows at least half of cancer cases are linked to avoidable risk factors, like smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, physical inactivity and UV radiation. That means the other 50% can be attributed to other factors. I hate cancer.

Self-driving cars do not drive themselves

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Can you really trust your car’s self-driving mode? Turns out, study after study shows it’s not as safe as you might think.

How to spot AI: A new study shows AI tends to overuse specific words, making it easier to detect. “Delves,” “underscores” and “showcasing” are a few “less common” words now increasing in popularity since we all got our hands on chatbots. Delete them from your work!

Trivia

Let’s do a fun math problem that’s stumping the internet. “A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”

Find the answer here!

Trivia

Which of these is not a current NASA mission? Is it … A.) Chips that create 3D skin and organ tissue, B.) Fully automated plant growth on the ISS, C.) A shoebox-sized satellite studying the universe’s most powerful explosions or D.) Mars surface ocean exploration?

Find the answer here!

🚗 New travel rule: Only ride in a self-driving car during the middle of the day. A study of more than 2,000 autonomous vehicles found they’re 5.25 times more likely to cause accidents in early morning, twilight and low-light conditions. They’re nearly twice as likely to mess up turns compared to human drivers, too. Yikes.

🇷🇺 The new “cold war:” Russia has a new avenue for disinformation: AI chatbots. A recent study found 10 leading chatbots spouted Russian propaganda 32% of the time. Where are they getting the info? An American fugitive in Moscow, who published over 160 fake news sites for the Kremlin. Don’t trust AI for your news — especially election news.