This is a relatively new addition to Linkedin and as a service provider yourself, it is essential that you become acquainted with it.
Not everyone has access but if you don’t, you can request access by sending a quick email to the Linkedin Support Desk.
You gain access to the Services Portal here – https://www.linkedin.com/services
Once you’re in, you’ll be presented with a page similar to this
As you scroll down the page, you’ll see a number of features including;
1. Get a proposal from Trusted Providers – this offers organisations the potential of submitting a request for proposals based upon a defined brief, pulled together through a series of questions – try it out to see how it works
2. Search providers – this provides a search capability of all providers based upon the usual Linkedin categories – again, click through and test out the search capabilities
The key for you is to ensure that you are ‘recognised’ as a provider. If not, you won’t receive any of the requests and will not come up on the searches.
So how do you ‘register’ yourself as a provider?
Scroll down the page until you see ‘Are you a provider?’
Activity
Register yourself as a Provider – click on the link on the page and follow these instructions
You will be directed to set up a dedicated ‘Services’ Page which will show up in your profile right underneath your headline;
Although the search and request for proposals facilities are not extensively used in my experience, the fact that the ‘services’ show up where they do and also in general search results (see opposite), makes this a must have element of your profile.
