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15 Tips to Maximise LinkedIn
Posted March 17th, 2011 by Ben Fox. No Comments
Following my pronounced affection for ‘The Professional Facebook’ and subsequent convo’s on Twitter I’ve compiled a list of tips for how to get the most out of LinkedIn.
It’s probably best to point out that I am not an ‘expert’ on LinkedIn, I have not written a best-seller about the virtues of using LinkedIn nor are any of these tips scientifically (or otherwise) proven – they are based on my own experiences, thoughts and opinions.
- Add your LinkedIn profile (and Twitter for that matter) to all communications – including website, business cards, email footers, email marketing etc – you need to signpost folk to your online presences.
2. As with Twitter the more you use LinkedIn the more useful it becomes
3. Get into the habit of considering people you’ve met, encountered, spoken to etc. on a daily basis with whom it may be beneficial to ‘connect’ on LinkedIn – I *try* to add new connections every other day…
4. ALWAYS write a bespoke, tailored message when asking someone to connect with you on LinkedIn – try and include a reason for them to connect with you or remind them of how they know you – even if it’s something like – ‘We met at XXXXX today, I like using LinkedIn to connect with people and would be grateful if you’d be willing to accept my invitation to connect’ (or similar)
5. Don’t write-off people just because they may not directly be a potential customer – consider who they may be connected to – Remember; don’t focus too much on attracting sales. Think about potential suppliers, potential employees and just those whose work you admire. It’s all about expanding your network and horizons too
6. Every now and again check back through your contacts to see if someone has updated their info (i.e. job position) – be nice and offer congratulations etc – Just like Twitter it’s all about developing relationships
7. Request recommendations from your LinkedIn contacts – previous/current clients and colleagues, also suppliers – this all helps build your online profile
8. Give more recommendations – adhere to the old adage of ‘giving to receive’ – it works and people will be more likely to reciprocate
9. Make your job title more specific i.e. ‘Joe Bloggs – Specialising in working with XXXXXX to achieve XXXXX’ (consider keywords your prospective clients will be looking for)
10. Don’t be afraid to approach ‘cold contacts’ – as long as you write a bespoke message outlining why you’d like to connect with them – i.e. ‘ we specialise in working with XXXXX to achieve XXXX – please let me know if you’d be interested in hearing more about our services’ (or similar) – people are more receptive to being approached on LinkedIn
11. Join more groups – I’d limit the email activity updates to weekly but you’ll learn a lot and will identify more opportunities by joining more (relevant) groups
12. LinkedIn Discussions – have a good read through the discussion topics; find some that are relevant to your business/interests and then ‘get involved’
13. Add your blog to your LinkedIn profile – automatically pulls in your latest blog posts so new articles are shared with your LinkedIn connections (if you don’t have a blog then start one!)
14. It’s possible to share tweets with your LinkedIn connections. In your settings you can ensure that all your tweets are transferred to your LinkedIn updates, or you can choose to manually select which ones are transferred by using the #in hashtag in your Tweets. Check settings for details.
15. Use other social media and online presences (Twitter, Blog) to signpost people to your LinkedIn profile – i.e. use Twitter to invite people to connect with you on LinkedIn…
16. Spend some time simply surfing. Use the search box to find people you already know but aren’t linked to yet. Search for Groups that may be relevant to your industry. Search through your contacts’ contacts. I have found that the more I explore, the more rewarding this tool becomes.
Yes I know I said 15 tips, but I could go on all day!
As I said at the beginning, these are all based on my own experiences of using LinkedIn – your experiences may be different so please do share your own tips in the comments below.
© Fox Communications 2001 - 2011