How to use Linkedin Answers to establish your credibility

If you click on the above picture, you'll see my "track record" as an answerer on Linkedin Answers.

When I first started using Linkedin Answers, I indiscriminately answered any question that seemed interesting. This has resulted in my being labeled an "expert" in many areas.

However, it was a mistake to try to cover too many areas.

So I began to answer ONLY questions in the Career Development section. This has resulted in my getting 23 Best Answers and, as far as I know, my being perceived as one of the top advisors on career matters in the Linkedin community.

In fact, many people wrote to me privately asking for career advice. A lot of people also want to connect to me because of the high number of Career Development Best Answers.

So that's one strategy I highly recommend: focus on answering questions in ONE area so that you get better and better at writing answers in that area.

A second strategy is to try to figure out exactly what kind of information the person is asking for. Knowing this will help you to formulate an answer that has a great chance of being voted Best Answer.

Third, try to answer only serious questions. There are a great many questions that are very trivial or, to say the least, not very serious. These questions will not push you to work hard mentally and intellectually, hence they have very little value. (Unless you just want to socialize and write what's off the top of your mind).

In the end, Linkedin Answers is REALLY the place where you show your intellect, your reasoning skills, your expertise and your professionalism. Many people don't know this. For instance, many answers are filled with typos and/or are not even coherent!

Your attitude towards work, life, other people, etc. is also revealed, so don't write something that you would be embarrassed about a few days later. Sadly enough, some people show a very negative attitude (through the tone or style of their writing), not knowing that what they write down cannot be deleted or rescinded.