Linked In is a living, breathing network that automatically updates itself 24/7 online. What’s not to like? If you’re a business owner or professional who is not on Linked In yet…today’s the day to get started.
Last week I was privileged to hear fundraising expert Paul Nazareth provide some excellent tips last week on how to use Linked In to grow your business. Interestingly, he was presenting at a locally-based Linked In group: Social Media Breakfast Waterloo Region.
I’ve put together Paul’s points with some of my own to come up with a Top 10 for Linked In.
1. Best Linked In resources: Linked In Log is a tiny book that takes you step by step from soup to nuts on how to plan and measure business results on your Linked In site. Linked In for Dummies is an excellent general guide and provides a helpful cheat sheet here. Other recommended marketing books: The Power of Pull, UnMarketing, and The Best Service is No Service. Linked In has its own YouTube channel full of how-to videos. Company Pages has lots of tips for organizing your business page.
2. Create both a personal page and a business page. On both sites, make sure you follow best practices using the resources above. The most obvious basics are to make sure your profile is 100% complete, have a professional photo, and at least 3 recommendations.
3. To get recommendations, give them first to as many of your 1st degree connections as possible. People usually want to reciprocate – but they’re busy, and it can help to shape their recommendation by offering content suggestions. Paul’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion: “Can you just share with others that I didn’t kill you, and what you appreciated about our work together?”
4. Use the Summary section of your personal site to provide a snapshot of your personality and your value proposition. In my view, the Summary section should read like the “Professional Profile” section of your resume – so that even if a person reads no further, they still have a solid idea about why you’re on the planet. When I write these things with clients, I’m always asking “how”. As in “Wow, that’s great – now how did you accomplish that? How did you do it differently from someone else?” It’s a good idea to speak directly to your reader using I-statements, and to avoid jargon-y, empty descriptions like “dynamic” and “effective”. You can also include your Vision and Mission in this section.
5. Don’t overwhelm people with your genius, or your posts will start to feel like spam. Paul recommends maximum one status update per day, and minimum one update per week as a good guideline. Follow updates from your network and make comments on a regular basis.
6. Include a personal note with each of your Linked In invitations. If it’s a new connection, remind the person about how you know each other and ask for the opportunity to link.
7. Who to link to? People you already know well, people you worked with in the past, people you know professionally. Take some risks. Seek connections with your heroes, teachers, and other influencers who are important in your industry. Give them a reason as to why they might want to link with you. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. You never know who might come up on your “suggested links” list. Not too long ago I was astonished to see “Barack Obama” come up in in my own! Talk about six degrees…!
8. Linked In Groups and Linked In Answers are excellent ways to showcase your knowledge and talents. Seek groups where your target market hangs out and start to add value in those circles. Aim to OWN your sector by creating your own groups. The best groups are not based around a specific company brand, but are targeted toward a sector, profession, special interest, or common problem. Groups are about branding – establishing your reputation and getting your name out there – more than they’re about sales. One creative idea is to start an Amazon booklist, and hold meetings to discuss specific books.
9. Linked In Events is not yet the best vehicle for getting the word out about events, since not everyone is a member. I park my own announcements at Eventbrite.com, but also list them on Linked In and Facebook, and send them out by email.
10. Use a timer. Social media can be addictive – one could spend one’s whole day writing and talking to people, but making no money. Set a timer to allow 10 – 15 minutes a day for social media activities to remedy this problem. After all, how long can it take to skim your network’s posts, make a few comments, post one update yourself or answer one question? That’s all the time you need to develop a solid reputation on Linked In.
Next: Growing Your Business with Your Linked In Business Page.
Filed under: Business Development, Networking, Social Media Tagged: | branding, Business, business growth, growth, Linked In, LinkedIn, Paul, productive workplace, Ready2Grow news, social media, tribe
