LinkedIn isn’t just for networking and job searching – it also creates an opportunity to position yourself to your professional network and the public. For thought leaders appearing at events or featured in the media, or anyone looking to impress a client or new colleague, a well-curated LinkedIn profile allows you to put your best foot forward. See below for our top tips to step-up your LinkedIn game:

• Swap the default background image for any imagery that is unique to you or related to how users might find you. Great options include a photo of you speaking at an event or otherwise in action on the job, the logo and basic info of an upcoming event you are sponsoring or featured in, or an award or recognition you received.

• Sync e-mail contacts to your LinkedIn profile. This will make it more likely that LinkedIn will recommend you to other LinkedIn users within your industry and help to expand your reach.

• More is more with your LinkedIn profile. Make sure every section of your profile is filled out and max out the character and quantity limitations! This includes contact info (including professional uses of social channels), Accomplishments, Skills, and most importantly About and Experience. These sections allow for up to 2,000 characters, so make the most of this space to illustrate your credentials and use keywords so you can be found in a search.

• Third-party endorsements are a powerful testimony to a person’s expertise. Ask colleagues, former colleagues and industry peers to write you a recommendation and offer to do the same for them.

• Stay active on LinkedIn by sharing via the status update feature. Share your thoughts on industry trends and content—this demonstrates your expertise and ability to keep current on the latest industry topics. Following hashtags related to your area of expertise can help surface relevant third-party content you can then share on your LinkedIn profile.

• Engage with other industry leaders’ content. Engaging with their content makes it both easier to create a stronger professional relationship with them and it makes it more likely that your content will show up in their LinkedIn feed.

• How to claim your unique URL
• LinkedIn Profile Background Image
• How to customize your LinkedIn headline
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• LinkedIn Featured Posts

With COVID-19 vaccination numbers growing daily and COVID-19 restrictions starting to be lifted, many see the pandemic as nearing its end. However, for those suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19, the end seems nowhere in sight. The symptoms some people are experiencing for weeks or months after recovering from the disease is a syndrome called long COVID. Researchers estimate 10% to 30% of people who contract COVID-19 develop long COVID after recovering from the disease.

Those suffering from long COVID experience ongoing combinations of symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, body aches, coughing, joint pain, chest pain, intermittent fever, difficulty concentrating, headaches and even continued loss of taste and smell. Others also report the mental impacts of prolonged symptoms, which include depression, anxiety, changes to their mood and sleep, and a mental “brain fog” that won’t lift. In all, people suffering with long COVID can have up to 200 different symptoms.

Team Tunheim is working with CaringBridge, a global nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey, to raise awareness about their new virtual support center connecting and supporting those suffering from long COVID.

Recently, we interviewed the CaringBridge team to discuss their new virtual support center, the importance of social support and sharing health journeys in healing, especially for those experiencing long COVID.

CaringBridge has the vision of a world where no one goes through a health journey alone. And social support, gained through an online site like CaringBridge, is one of the most important factors to healing and achieving positive health outcomes.

The pandemic has already separated families and friends and limited social interactions. When you layer on a complex health journey like long COVID, it’s a recipe for disaster if people don’t seek out their support network for care and connection. Science indicates that meaningful relationships and connections matter, especially during a health journey. People need to know they matter. It’s healing.

CaringBridge users have found over the years that in the presence of the unknown, love and support can be a lifeline. As long COVID patients work with their doctors—who often are still learning more about the syndrome—the support of community is so important.

Science indicates that meaningful relationships and connections matter, especially during a health journey. Families used CaringBridge like never before in 2020, and still today, when patients are isolated with COVID, friends and family are desperate for news. Providing meaningful social support and connection throughout a health journey is the soul of CaringBridge.

But as we’ve seen since 1997, over hundreds of thousands of health journeys, the need for connection and community remains, long after a crisis phase. After stroke, serious injury, premature birth—and now long COVID—it can be a longer road toward wholeness. And no one should have to travel that road alone.

Additionally, through CaringBridge.org/covid, CaringBridge has a created an online resource for people impacted by long COVID, including a survey, resources and stories of others who have experienced the syndrome.

If you suspect your symptoms may be long COVID, see your physician right away to rule out other issues and assess treatment.

Since most physicians don’t have experience with long COVID, consider getting care at a long-COVID specialty clinic to help assure you are getting the best treatment.

Connecting with other long COVID patients in a virtual community is an important way to stay abreast of new health information and a way to get emotional support as you navigate your health journey. Visit CaringBridge.org/covid to learn more.

If you believe you have or had long COVID, please take CaringBridge’s long COVID survey to help shed light on this syndrome.

Influencer marketing is a growing industry that has more than doubled from 2019 to 2021 according to Influencer Marketing Hub and is currently on track to be a $15 billion industry by 2022. Influencer marketing is most commonly thought of as paying a celebrity a fixed cost to post about your brand, but there are many ways to make influencer marketing work for you and your organization.

So, how do you get started with influencer marketing?

This is the type of influencer marketing we are probably most familiar with, as we often see influencer partnerships as we scroll through Instagram and other social channels. Influencer paid campaigns are when brands partner and pay influencers to endorse and mention their products to access their dedicated social following. Especially if they have a certain niche, they can be viewed as experts on the topic, which is a great opportunity for brands to directly target their focused audiences.

Influencers have the ability to change and #influence the behavior of others. I know I’ve been #influenced to try a new skin care product or buy a new clothing item because an influencer I love had great things to say about it. Influencer paid campaigns are a great option to appeal to your ideal customer profile, but it’s very important to seek out authentic, credible influencers who have gained their followers’ trust. Bonus points if the influencer is already a fan of your business service(s) or product! Influencers have to disclose it’s a paid partnership – that’s why credibility and transparency is so important – because the general public is already bombarded with sponsored content on a daily basis. But, if followers trust the influencer and their opinion and believe they won’t do anything for just a check, then there is greater potential to build consumer trust and credibility!

You don’t need a large budget to start an influencer campaign. Micro-influencers don’t have the high costs of big celebs and are often more trusted by their following due to their relatability. The bigger the following and engagement, the more expensive the partnership. Start by doing some research, set a budget, determine your goals, find the influencers that best fit your brand and conduct some outreach. Be hands-on in order to monitor the campaign and the results. From increasing brand awareness and business growth to reaching the ideal audience and right customers, there are substantial benefits to this strategy!

Affiliate marketing is the process of an affiliate (influencer) earning a commission for marketing or selling a brand’s product. You have probably seen influencers sharing product links with “#affiliate”. They are receiving a kick-back from any potential sales that come from that link. Eighty-one percent of brands are leveraging affiliate marketing. This is a great way to attract potential customers and drive sales!

A beneficial component to affiliate programs is that companies can manage them through a program on their own website! Otherwise, there are plenty of affiliate networks, that can function as the middle party. Typically, affiliate programs can function between the influencer and the company, or a network which is the software that tracks traffic, sales and globally manages the program. It can be time consuming to set up your own system – that’s where an agency can manage the program and go through the process of hand-picking partners for your approval.

The cost incurred with this program will depend on if its managed independently or through a network, but once that is figured out, it comes down to commission rates or a flat rate per sale. This is a low-risk program due to paying the influencer once the sale occurs, rather than up-front costs associated with other forms of marketing. Also, you don’t need to have a large budget to get involved with this strategy. Most e-commerce sites easily integrate with affiliate programs, so you can generate more online revenue before you know it!

Are you trying to drive more user-generated content to fill your feeds? Content creator marketing is a great solution to those in need of content. It’s about the creation and circulation of content by creators on behalf of a company. If you’ve ever managed social media accounts for a business you know the importance of quality, carefully-targeted content to maintain new visitors and customers. This can be very time consuming and costly to create your own assets and manage tracking software to see how those assets perform. By outsourcing these efforts, it reduces the time and internal cost, while receiving premium content that can increase the chance of more leads and heighten brand awareness more than other traditional marketing methods.

Influencers and professional content creators are available to help generate images, videos and other forms of content you need to fill your feeds. There are companies out there that can help you gather necessary content, but this is also something that brands can complete on their own. The key is communicating the vision, strategy, budget and deliverables when partnering with a content creator and influencer. This strategy is worth implementing this year because it will support all of your other marketing tactics, maintain your customer base and drive traffic to your website, all while earning new customers!

At Tunheim, we implement influencer and content creator strategies when shaping our clients’ digital approaches. Tunheim is here to help identify and implement the best strategy to fit your company’s goals.

Is your business interested in influencer marketing? We’re here to help! Visit https://tunheim.com/help/ to get connected with our team.

We are breaking down what to watch to make the selection process that much simpler on Halloween night. From cult classics to terrifying films, we’ve got you covered. We’ve even included our own team’s favorite go-to Halloween movies. You will definitely find something for your spooky evening!

Classic Halloween movies we can watch year after year and never tire of. Everyone has their favorite and I hope their favorite is Hocus Pocus.

Spooky vibes to get you in the Halloween spirit. Perfect to enjoy with the family or a nostalgic time with your friends.

A rare full moon will be present this Halloween…pair that with a movie filled with jump scares, horror and paranormal activity and you might end up sleeping with a light on.

Here are some TV shows and movies we are currently talking about, watching and hearing about.

If you were curious what our team’s go-to movies are during the spooky season. Here you go!

September 15 through October 15 is Latinx (Hispanic) Heritage Month! So far, Tunheim has been supporting local restaurants that serve the best authentic cuisine and listening to local Hispanic organizations creating positive change in our community. Personally, I love making traditional family recipes, hearing stories from my grandma and diving deeper into Mexico’s history. Latinx (Hispanic) Heritage Month is all about celebrating the cultures and achievements of Latinx Americans and recognizing the contributions and positive influence they have had on our society and country.

One of the ways Tunheim is celebrating Latinx (Hispanic) Heritage Month is by supporting COPAL (Communities Organizing Latinx Power and Action), an organization established to unite Latinxs in Minnesota in active grassroots communal democracy that builds racial, gender, social and economic justice across community guidelines. They are focused on a future that is equitable, fulfilling and environmentally sustainable for all with programs focused on the environment, education, immigration, leadership and boosting the Minnesota Latino vote.

They truly do it all and their adaptability to meet community needs during the pandemic is amazing. During these uncertain and challenging times, COPAL developed a Navigators program in collaboration with CAPI USA to support members of the community who may have lost their jobs, need assistance with access to food or health insurance, help with their taxes, census questions and overall connect them with the resources they need.

Tunheim shows dedication to the Twin Cities by making sure our community members have access to the resources they need for success and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard. We support and appreciate COPAL’s efforts to activate the Minnesota Latino vote, because only together can we achieve an equitable society in Minnesota and create the necessary resources and pathways for everyone’s needs to be met and potential reached.

Learn more about COPAL’s programming and initiatives by visiting https://copalmn.org/.