Your Q&A

In previous posts about blogging, I've recommended being an active commenter on blogs and forums other than your own. Not only is this a good way to increase your visibility and reputation within your area of expertise, but it is also a great way to learn and be fed with information and material that will lead to better blogging.

Another similar opportunity that I haven't mentioned before is participating in LinkedIn's Q&A. If you have a profile with LinkedIn, you submit questions or answers to other users' questions within particular categories. You can even set your profile to show you the latest questions within the categories most relevant to you. Once you have answered some questions, LinkedIn will begin to "learn" what other subjects you are interested in and suggest questions more appropriate to your subject profile. Additionally, the user that created the question has the ability to rank the answers as either "best" or "good," which furthers the reputation-building of this feature.

Eric has answered 30 LinkedIn questions so far, 6 of which have been voted as best answer. You can see this right away on his profile, which is a helpful way for any visitor to get a quick overview of his expertise and a bit of a recommendation by virtue of other users voting his answers as "best." (You can click on the image below to read all of Eric's answers.)



I've answered 15 questions so far since I've started using this feature, and asked 1 question, for which I have yet to get any answers. I have a feeling that getting answers will be tougher than giving them! However, participating in this has generated a significant increase in profile views and visits to this blog, too.