Service Providers

Overview

A “Yellow pages” of professionals you can trust

LinkedIn Services is a directory containing only credible service providers that have been recommended by your network. In diverse categories from Legal and Web Design, to Dentistry and Personal Trainers, LinkedIn offers the most effective way to quickly discover, research, and reference check service providers.

I am Looking for a Service Provider

The first step in choosing a service provider is choosing the right category. On the right hand side of the LinkedIn Services home screen you will find a list of pre-defined categories, ranging from Gardeners to Financial Advisors, from which you can select.

Once a category has been chosen, you can narrow the results further by selecting the geographical location of the service you are looking for. Click the “change location” button in the upper-right to select a country and postal code if appropriate.

The third and final filter is selecting the degrees of your network whose recommendations you will see. Near the top of the LinkedIn Services home page there are four boxes that allow you to toggle the service providers you see, from only those you have recommended all the way up to recommendations from all LinkedIn users.

Taken together, the three steps define what, where, and whose recommendations to see. For example to find a dentist in the San Francisco Bay Area that is recommended by your direct connections, you would:

Select “Dentist” under the “Health & Medical” category
Click the “change location” button and enter postal code “94105”
Click the 1st degree button (or view 2nd degree, or All LinkedIn)

You can also choose to sort results by Date (most recent) or Top Results (more recommended).

Click on a service provider to read their recommendations and see why others enjoy working with them. Other important pieces of information you can take away are the service providers’ top qualities and the relationship between the recommender and the service provider.

Making a Recommendation

Is there a lawyer, marketing guru, consultant or other service provider whom you would strongly recommend? Making a recommendation lets others know why you enjoy working with them and lists them in the service provider directory.

Making a recommendation is quick and easy. From the LinkedIn Services home screen click on the “Make a Recommendation” tab. On this screen you can either enter a name or select someone from your connections list.

Did you know: A service provider doesn’t need to have a profile on LinkedIn for you to submit a recommendation, you only need their name and email address

After selecting a user, you will need to fill in details concerning the service provider and write the actual recommendation. Particularly important is the category selected, as this will be where they are placed in the LinkedIn Services directory. When writing the recommendation, try putting yourself in a prospective client’s shoes and provide information that would be helpful to them such as remarks on quality, professionalism, timeliness, etc.

I am a Service Provider

As a service provider, LinkedIn is a natural place for you to be listed and found by the world’s professional community. You become listed when you have a recommendation by someone who has previously utilized your services—you benefit not only through being listing in the directory, but also because the recommendation appears on your profile.

If you are not already listed, getting started is easy, and starts with clicking the “Request a Recommendation” link on the top right of the title bar. You’ll see that you’re only three easy steps away from getting listed.

Choose the appropriate position from your LinkedIn profile that you would you like to be listed for. If the position is not yet listed on your profile click the “Add a position” link, which will then also update your profile with the appropriate details.
Decide who you’ll ask to recommend your services. You should choose a long-time client or someone who can speak well of your abilities, level of service, etc.
Create the message that you wish to send to the client who will recommend you. In addition to personalizing your message, you should also let them know that you are requesting the recommendation so that you can be listed in the Service Providers directory.