Anyone I know here?
Imagine sitting on a 3 hour train journey and across from you and next to you there are other business people that you don’t know. Other than some pleasantries you arrive at your destination and there has been virtually no communication between any of you.
It happens to all of us and for me this reminds me of how most of us are using LinkedIn – we are there but not really communicating with anyone!
LinkedIn is probably the most powerful business social media platform. If used correctly it is a terrific way to make good quality connections and it can be the best and quickest of all the social media platforms to generate awareness for you and your business.
My Top 10 Tips for getting the most from LinkedIn are:
- Use a great photo that captures what you are all about
- Complete your profile properly, taking care that you write an inviting bio for readers and use the standard industry terms to describe your areas of speciality (e.g. Social Media Consultant)
- Request personal recommendations from satisfied clients and co-workers (even better write some for others – it will earn you lots of brownie points!)
- Maximise your contacts by using the using the facility whereby LinkedIn will check your own email database against those in its database
- Only invite people to connect that you know, have interacted with or have a good reason for justifying a connection request
- Try not to ignore a connection request – as long as it is not a competitor accept requests as it can help to boost your awareness
- Always peep at the “people who you may know” suggestions – LinkedIn is very clever and often the suggested connections can be very relevant
- Try to post a status update at least once a day
- Join relevant groups and participate proactively – comment on posts of interest to you and the very best way to boost your awareness is to start your own discussions. Using your own blog posts as discussion “starters” is very powerful
- THANK & be nice is my very biggest tip – It’s really important that you respect who you interact with on LinkedIn. Thank people who connect with you, personalise your invitations to connect and think about being helpful before you try to start selling. Try and stay as positive as possible.
If people like and trust you and understand what you do, they will be more likely to want to do business with you or recommend you to someone else.
The train is pulling in ..hope you made a few new connections!
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Fuzion with offices in Dublin and Cork offer Social Media Consultancy and Training Services
Tags: Fuzion, Greg Canty, LinkedIn Tips
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 
November 21, 2012 at 10:56 pm |
Excellent advice thanks Tim
November 22, 2012 at 7:49 am |
thanks for the positive feedback Tim – enjoy the train journey !
November 22, 2012 at 10:35 am |
Another great post Greg and relevant too since I discovered your blog through the LinkedIn “10 Minute Street Network” group.
QQ, flipping #5 around what are your thoughts on accepting non-customised invites from people in a similar industry but you don’t know?
I’m not an active user of LinkedIn but have helped troubleshoot issues in some groups and as a result have received a lot of invites from people around the world that there is a low probability of us ever crossing paths. I’m conscious that accepting too many may damage my reputation and scare off valuable contacts. Thoughts?
November 22, 2012 at 4:51 pm |
Thanks for the positive feedback Eoin
I think most people get robotic online generally so your end up getting loads of those generic invites (what a wasted opportunity). I view every invite as a potential connection so I always take a quick peep at the profile of those I don’t know before accepting. My only real “pause” moment is when it is someone from a competitor – I’ve discovered with these that often they are looking for a job change!
I don’t really see the reputation damage from having too many contacts – when you view a profile it reads as 500+ if they have exceeded that number.
Cheers,
November 22, 2012 at 3:33 pm |
Great article once again, really enjoy your blog Greg!
November 22, 2012 at 4:44 pm |
thanks Fiona for the positive feedback – enjoy the journey !
November 22, 2012 at 5:36 pm |
Nice words Greg especially for someone new to LinkedIn…Keep them coming!!!
Bar
November 23, 2012 at 7:30 am |
Good man Barry – keep at it. It will be great for your business
November 23, 2012 at 11:31 am |
Appreciate the realistic advice in these tips. LinkedIn has brought my most meaningful business connections and my most significant projects. The big advantage of it is that people know why they’re there, so they can cut to the chase.
November 23, 2012 at 8:28 pm |
Thanks for the feedback Derbhile – the best connections are available to you on LinkedIn if you work it, you are right
November 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm |
Jeez Greg, if I’d read this sooner I wouldn’t have had to go to the last two DMI Dip Social Media classes…only kidding, great advice!!!
November 23, 2012 at 7:38 pm |
It could have saved you two hours of your life !!
November 24, 2012 at 4:18 am |
Good post Greg. I’d agree with you about using it as a source of business. I’ve responded to other people’s posts and developed client relationships as a result, by initially offering a little bit of free guidance.
LinkedIn is a great resource. Use it wisely!
November 24, 2012 at 11:11 am |
Great post Fergal – I would add “be patient” into the mix . Awareness and building connections take time both offline and online