If you think of LinkedIn as just another social network, you are going to miss out on its potential to help you build your business and your professional connections. It is a powerful resource which rewards intelligent use.
Start with a well-developed LinkedIn profile. That will immediately put you ahead of the game. Ensure that you have an excellent summary that highlights your talents and achievements, then ask a truthful colleague to critique it. Rinse and repeat. LinkedIn has sophisticated search capability, so make sure your profile includes keywords – individual words or phrases – which you would expect people to use in a search for someone with your special talents and experience.
Give and ask for recommendations. It’s a trust network and your recommendations will help people get a sense of how others who know you regard and value you.
Use the Answers service for research and answer others’ questions when you can: this will help improve your ‘findability’ on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a professional network. Before you fire off invitations to everyone on your mailing list ask yourself “Who will be my best connections in building a high quality professional network?” Some say it’s a numbers game. I say it’s a trust game, which is why I emphasise quality over quantity. By the same token, don’t say yes to every request for linking: for some of the people inviting you to connect you are just a number, so use some discernment.
And don’t use the boilerplate invitations unless you enjoy rejection. Take the trouble to write a personal note – wouldn’t you prefer that?
If you use LinkedIn well you can grow your business and networks much faster and better, confident in the quality of the people you are associating with and attracting.
