There are more than 142,000 Canberrans with a LinkedIn profile - and we've managed to zero in on the top five.
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Online networking platform LinkedIn launched in 2002 and is today used by millions of members for business development, job seeking, networking and establishing a "personal brand".
We asked international LinkedIn consultant and Canberra man Colin Anstie to find us the top five Canberrans using LinkedIn. To do this, Anstie developed the following criteria:
- Professional 'brand' - completeness and quality of profile.
- Relationships - depth of connections and quality.
- Engagement - volume of original content, engagement and discussion.
- Use of LinkedIn to find prospects - engaging with others, having conversations on LinkedIn and general performance.
After some serious behind-the-scenes research, Anstie has identified the ACT's top five:
1. Tony Holland - CEO, OzHelp Foundation
Tony Holland. Photo: LinkedIn
2. Marcus Dawe - CEO, Mineral Carbonation International (MCi)
Marcus Dawe. Photo: LinkedIn
3. Keith Cantlie - Managing Director, Cantlie Recruitment
Keith and Anne Cantlie. Photo: LinkedIn
4. Shaun Iqbal - Principal, Impact Properties Gungahlin
Shaun Iqbal. Photo: LinkedIn
5. Caroline Buchanan - 7 x BMX and Mountain Bike World Champion
Caroline Buchanan. Photo: LinkedIn
According to Anstie, Australians are voracious users of LinkedIn and ranked fourth globally in terms of usage.
When it comes to the local numbers, Canberra runs in the "middle of the pack" compared to other states - we're not as savvy as NSW, Victoria and Queensland but we're more avid users than our NT and Tasmanian colleagues.
"LinkedIn is the ninth most used website in Australia, and the third biggest social network after Facebook and Twitter," Anstie said.
"More than 20 per cent of all people in the ACT are using LinkedIn and 80 per cent of Canberra professionals are on it.
"Canberra's real estate agents, recruitment specialists and people from tech start-ups are using it well - but academics, public servants and the military still have a long way to go."
Anstie is the CEO of local agency Raging Digital and manages the personal LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles of more than 50 clients. He has been consulting on best practise use of LinkedIn for four years.
"The most successful Canberrans on LinkedIn are technical/software professionals and entrepreneurs - they live and breathe this kind of stuff and it's a way for them to find investors, partners and a lot of them have built businesses on the back of platforms like Linkedin."
Anstie's two big tips for improving your LinkedIn profile are "to seriously think about the picture you're using" and to fill in the Contact Details section.
"If you don't have a picture, you're 76 per cent less likely to be found on LinkedIn - if you do have a picture it needs to be a smiling, approachable picture, and try to look exactly as you would offline - if you normally wear glasses and a tie then wear that in your picture.
"And make sure you add in your contact details - think of LinkedIn as an online business card and give people a range of ways to contact you."
