Why I Love LinkedIn’s Skills Endorsement Feature

By Jim Gilbert

You may have noticed over the last few months that when you look at a person's LinkedIn profile, you're asked, "Does ‘Joe Blow’ have skills or expertise?" It's a blue box at the top of your screen, you can't miss it. Or you may have received an email telling you that you've "been endorsed for specific skills."

This is a great feature on Linkedin, and I'll tell you why shortly.

But first let's take a step back and discuss your LinkedIn profile. When you create or update your LinkedIn profile, there's a section to add skills and expertise (see the example below). Simply click on the edit button and add the skills that most appropriately fit your expertise. You can add up to 50 skills. Tip: Choose your top skills; this isn't a place to be aspirational as opposed to actual.

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Why I like this feature?

To me it's a great prompt. A reminder if you will. When I get that email telling me that Joe has endorsed me, and I click back to the Linkedin site, the top of the page loads with four boxes that enable you to endorse others. Scroll through and it's like a trip down memory lane. All of your contacts who have "skills" set up will appear. Often I'll be reminded of someone I should network with (which is as simple as clicking on their picture to go right to their page).
Hey, remember me? Want to get someone's attention? Endorse them. Like the above, it's a great way to remind them you're out there.
Then there's the LOL factor. I'm always amazed at what people try to get away with on their LinkedIn profile. Some people say they're experts in areas that they're, well, I'll just say they're not. I love scrolling through and looking at people and their skills because invariablly I'll get to someone with dubious skills. It kind of works like this: "Does John Doe know about marketing?" My answer, "Um, hell no!" or "Are you kidding me?"

The moral of the story as stated above: be factual, not aspirational!

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Jim Gilbert Author's page

Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.

After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.

Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.

Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.